Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam called Tuesday for a Cabinet session for Thursday, urging ministers to give utmost priority to ensuring a smooth and effective productivity of the government.
Salam’s decision indicated that the row over the government’s decision-making system that has led to the suspension of the Cabinet meetings for two weeks has been solved.
Salam signaled a change in the current mechanism, which requires unanimous support from all 24 ministers on the Cabinet decisions, when he stressed that approving decisions during the 9-month-old presidential vacuum should be based on consensus.
Salam said he made the decision to call for Thursday’s session after contacting all political parties that are members of the Cabinet.
“The current political crisis makes everyone responsible for safeguarding the Cabinet situation, strengthening its unity to prevent jeopardizing national immunity, and the need to run the country’s pressing affairs in a spirit of consensus that has been adopted in addressing all issues,” Salam said in a statement issued by his office.
He added that it was his duty as well as that of the Cabinet members to give utmost priority now to “setting the state’s wheel into motion smoothly and effectively.”
“But this goal can only be achieved by avoiding partisan interests on the basis of consensus which constitutes the core of our National Pact, which accepts disagreement without being a tool for paralysis, or an excuse for obstruction and disruption,” Salam said.
The premier voiced hope that “good intentions” expressed by all the parties would provide “a new and fruitful opportunity” for the government’s productivity.
Salam renewed his call for a quick election of a new president in order “to restore balance to constitutional institutions and normalcy to political life in Lebanon.”
Salam, backed by most ministers, has demanded a change in the current mechanism, which requires unanimous support from all 24 ministers on the Cabinet decisions. He argued that the mechanism has hampered the government’s productivity due to disagreement among ministers on decisions taken by the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary Future bloc called for a clear compliance with the rules of the Constitution concerning the Cabinet’s decision-making system during the presidential vacuum.
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the bloc warned against “devising precedents or norms that ran contrary to the Constitution and would also further complicate the government’s work and political life in Lebanon.”
The statement renewed the bloc’s call on all lawmakers to go to Parliament and attend sessions to elect a president rather than thwarting them by a lack of quorum.
The bloc accused Hezbollah of blocking the presidential election, citing remarks made by a senior Hezbollah official the day before.
Speaking to reporters after talks with MP Hagop Pakradonian and other officials from the Tashnag Party Monday, Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, head of Hezbollah’s Political Council, said serious discussions to break the presidential deadlock required reaching understanding with MP Michel Aoun. Hezbollah has supported Aoun as its sole candidate for the country’s top Christian post.
“The Future bloc sees that these remarks clearly show who is obstructing the election of a new president and is keeping the presidential vacancy in the country, and consequently exposing the Lebanese state to various kinds of dangers,” the statement said.
It added that Sayyed’s comments suggested that Hezbollah was trying to impose its own candidate on all of Lebanon.
“The bloc sees that Hezbollah’s declared stance contributes toward the continued vacancy in the presidency seat, aggravates political instability in the country and hinders a return to the regular functioning of constitutional institutions,” the statement said.
“With its stance, Hezbollah becomes responsible for pushing the country into a higher level of risks.”