Cautious Efforts to Resolve Cabinet Crisis as Miqati Holds onto his Stance

A cabinet crisis that brought sessions to a standstill and showed no signs of mediation efforts last week, seemed to see a glimpse of hope on Tuesday after Speaker Nabih Berri held talks with Premier Najib Miqati following his rift with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

“I confirmed to Berri that my latest actions were according to my national convictions, I have nothing to hide,” Miqati told An Nahar newspaper on Tuesday.

The premier held a meeting with Berri on Monday as part of efforts to resolve the government crisis.

Miqati said after the 30-minute meeting: “If we are certain that cabinet will be productive, then we will resume cabinet sessions."

The PM told An Nahar that he explained to the speaker the points of contention among the cabinet members and who is blocking the government’s work and its productivity in more than one sector.

For his Part, Berri stressed to the newspaper that he is trying to find the motive behind the alleged obstacles in order to “intervene.”

Last week, a sharp debate over the issue of civil service appointments between Miqati and FPM ministers at the Baabda Palace led to the suspension of the session by the president at the premier’s request.

Miqati accused ministers loyal to Aoun of obstructing the cabinet’s work, saying he will not allow anyone to undermine the prime minister’s prerogatives.

“On the personal level, I have no problem with anyone… I stand at an equal distance from all parties,” Miqati told the daily.

He confirmed that he will keep on coordinating with President Michel Suleiman as the premier considered that all the cabinet members should work on safeguarding stability and avoiding strong rhetoric and disputes.

“I am not holding onto the premiership… I refuse to drag the presidency and the parliament into the dispute as I will not surpass them,” Miqati stated.

According to As Safir, the PM criticized the FPM ministers for the strong rhetoric they are using against him and Aoun’s threat to stage demonstrations near the Grand Serail to protest the government’s alleged obstruction of Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s electricity plan.

The plan allows the minister to receive $1.2 billion to implement a project on producing 700 Megawatts of electricity.

Aoun’s visitors quoted him as saying that the cabinet disputes should be resolved thoroughly so that “we don’t have a crisis at every issue.”

“We should set a mechanism for the cabinet’s work,” he reportedly said.

Berri’s meeting with Miqati was also accompanied by talks that the speaker held with Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's advisor Hussein Khalil behind closed doors, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

According to the daily, Berri is still not convinced that he should exert efforts to mediate between Miqati and Aoun.

Sources close to the speaker noted that Berri will not intervene until he guarantees that his efforts will achieve the desired results.