Report: Cabinet Disregards Qanso's Request to Include Syria Clause in Ministerial Statement

A request raised by State Minister for Parliament Affairs and Syrian Social Nationalist Party leader Ali Qanso to include a clause on Syria in the new drafted policy statement was not taken into consideration by the cabinet, the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily reported Tuesday.

In that regard, when the cabinet was drafting its policy statement last week, Qanso said the statement should include a clause about “coordination with Damascus with whom we have agreements,” a ministerial source told the daily on condition of anonymity.

Although Qanso has raised the request of including “coordination with Damascus” in the statement, but none of the minsters took his comment into consideration, added the source.

However, Minster of the Displaced Talal Arslan remarked and only spoke about the importance of the relations with Syria, but considered the policy statement sufficient with the content included.

On the other hand, parliamentary sources told the daily that the legislative sessions that will kick start Tuesday, lawmakers will tackle in addition to the cabinet's policy statement, several pressing economic, social and livelihood matters and possibly the regional developments mainly in neighboring Syria.

The sources which spoke on condition of anonymity, said the MPs will raise many issues in their statements, and they could even touch on the regional developments, particularly in Syria and the relations with the Syrian regime after it controlled the city of Aleppo, added the daily.

The parliament will convene Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the ministerial statement, that was approved over the weekend, based on which it will give its vote of confidence for the newly formed cabinet under Prime Minister Saad Hariri.