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| 18/07/2008 While Lebanon is still celebrating the Operation Al-Redwan victory and the return of freed detainees from Israeli prisons, the cabinet started working on the policy statement which would be followed by a vote of confidence on the national unity government.
Loyalty and opposition key figures are stressing the statement's formulation wouldn't face difficulties and obstacles and thus, would see light very soon. According to press reports, the statement will be inked by the committee by weekend and discussed by the cabinet on Monday so that the vote of confidence takes place next Thursday.
The ministerial committee in charge with drafting the cabinet's policy statement held its first meeting on Thursday at the Grand Serail. Prime Minister Fouad Saniora headed the meeting, which joined State Ministers Nassib Lahoud, Youssef Taqla and Wael Abu Faour, Information Minister Tareq Mitri, Finance Minister Mohammed Chattah, Telecommunications Minister Gebran Basil, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Labor Minister Muhammad Fneish, and Agriculture Minister Elias Skaff.
After the meeting, Mitri said the committee had begun its work "in good faith and with great seriousness, and will continue to work with the same spirit and seriousness, God willing."
Moreover, the committee is set to hold its second meeting on Friday to come up with a draft text as soon as possible, ministerial sources told Lebanese daily An-Nahar. The sources noted that the first meeting was positive despite differences of opinion between loyalty and opposition ministers, stressing that committee members agreed to facilitate the process of drafting the statement.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's sources told Assafir daily that if parliament received the draft text on Monday, the legislative session for a vote of confidence would start on Thursday and would be broadcast live by the media.
Labor Minister Mohamad Fneish expected agreement among the committee members over the article on the resistance, saying that the best solution was to adopt the formula of the previous government. For his part, member of Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc MP Anwar Al-Khalil said on Friday that the various political sides are facilitating the task of drafting the policy statement and Tuesday is the day the text is most likely to be declared
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea was still seen "combating" alone over the policy statement. On Thursday, he reiterated once again his proposal for national dialogue before drafting the ministerial statement to ensure consensus on the statement, a proposal that was rejected by his allies before opponents.
During a meeting with an LF delegation from Zghorta, Geagea urged the policy statement committee “to purge the statement of ambiguities” as "it is important that things be clear" from the onset of the government's term. |
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