70 MPs Have so Far Signed up to Discuss Govt. Performance at Parliament Next Week

Some 70 MPs have signed up to discuss government’s performance during a three-day parliamentary session scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

Speculation has arisen on whether the March 14-led opposition is seeking to resort to a vote of confidence over the government’s performance.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Mohammed Qabbani told al-Liwaa newspaper that the opposition MPs have not yet taken such a decision, revealing that each of the lawmakers will address issues that have recently emerged in Lebanon.

Prominent opposition parliamentary circles meanwhile told the daily An Nahar Saturday that the government’s performance has been a failure “in every sense of the word.”

They added that all sides “should wait the end of the three-day session to find out whether the government will be toppled or not.”

“The government’s main achievement was funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its decision to distance itself” from various issues of debate, they said.

The Lebanese government has chosen to distance itself from the developments in Syria in order to prevent the unrest from spreading to Lebanon.

Furthermore, the opposition circles noted that the “terrible deterioration of the government situation has been demonstrated by Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s scathing attack against Prime Minister Najib Miqati.”

The minister told LBC television on Thursday that the premier had wronged him and that he opposed Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s proposal of leasing power-generating vessels because he had made pledges elsewhere to tackle Lebanon’s power crisis.

A dispute had erupted between Safadi and Miqati over the leasing of the ships where the former had backed Bassil’s plan and the latter opposed it.

Informed political sources told al-Liwaa that Safadi’s attack against the premier is a sign of the lack of coordination between the two sides and between various members of government.

Miqati’s sources have so far refused to comment on the minister’s remarks, saying that “we have no problem with Safadi or any other side” in government.

They told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the conditions are appropriate to hold the parliamentary session next week.

“Any issue proposed during the session will be tackled in a clear and honest manner,” they stated.