Prime Minister Tammam Salam's has demanded that a response over the proposed solution to the garbage disposal crisis be made in the upcoming days, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.
Parliament convened on Tuesday to elect members of its various committees, as well as members of its bureau.
It re-elected the members of the committees and renewed the terms of its treasurers, reported al-Jadeed television.
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra replaced Mustaqbal MP Robert Fadel in the finance committee.
Fadel in turn replaced LF MP Fadi Karam in the economics committee.
The session was held without incident or political bickering that had marred committee sessions.
Health Minister Wael Abou Faour announced Monday that Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government is on the brink of entering a “coma.”
“The government will enter a coma and it will only wake up to address the garbage crisis exclusively,” Abou Faour, who is close to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).
“No contacts can rescue the government from the state of paralysis it is heading into,” the minister noted.
Tensions between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah reached their peak over the weekend in light of party chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's response to Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's recent speech, with the cleric stressing his commitment to dialogue and the minister threatening to quit it, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday.
The dispute between the two sides is threatening the 20th Mustaqbal-Hizbullah dialogue scheduled for October 26 and the country's national dialogue.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam hoped that the obstacles hindering the cabinet from convening would be overcome this week in order to call it to session, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.
He told the daily: “How is it that all sides are committed to the government and yet they do not help eliminate hurdles that are hampering its productivity?”
An Nahar said that the premier is waiting for the appropriate time to call cabinet to session.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stated on Sunday that the party does not approve to topple the cabinet despite its slow performance, affirming that Hizbullah commits to dialogue despite warnings that some parties might withdraw from the sessions.
“We reaffirm our commitment for dialogue and convergence among the Lebanese. We have participated in this government for the security and political stability in Lebanon,” said Nasrallah in a televised appearance.
A new proposal aimed at ending the protracted presidential impasse is being discussed and has reportedly received the support of a number of influential foreign powers, said the daily An Nahar on Friday.
It said that the suggestion called for the election of one of the current presidential candidates for a two-year term.
During this time, a new parliamentary electoral law would be approved and the polls would then be held in order to reshuffle state institutions, reported An Nahar.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat presented Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri during his recent trip to Saudi Arabia with a “comprehensive” deal over the presidential deadlock and the garbage disposal crisis, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.
Informed sources told the daily that his proposal calls for reaching an agreement over a new president and understandings over a new government and parliamentary electoral.
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri urged the political leaders in Lebanon to converge and find a solution for the crises mainly the hurdle of electing a president.
“Stemming from the brethren relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, I urge the political leaders to work on opening a new leaf and put aside the controversial issues that have emerged in the last phase,” said Asiri after a meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
Efforts will soon be exerted to hold a cabinet session in order to avert its “complete paralysis,” reported the daily An Nahar on Friday.
It said that these efforts will be held next week and that a government session, should it be scheduled, will address the waste disposal crisis.
Ministerial sources hoped to the daily that the session would be held on Tuesday.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah lamented Wednesday the collapse of efforts aimed at reactivating the work of the paralyzed government, warning of a “more complicated situation” ahead.
Cabinet is expected to convene on Friday to adopt Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb's waste disposal plan, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Wednesday.
Ministerial sources said: “The session will be its last due to the obstruction of the Free Patriotic Movement.”
FPM chief MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that his ministers will not attend a cabinet meeting aimed at addressing the waste crisis due to his objection to the failure to tackle the contentious issue of security promotions and appointments.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam said he did not expect to call for a cabinet session anytime soon over the lack of consensus among the country's rival political leaders.
“We want the session to be productive and we want it to become a turning point in resolving the waste crisis,” Salam told As Safir newspaper published on Monday.
“But unfortunately the conditions are not ripe yet to hold such a session,” he said.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to call for a cabinet session to put into execution the waste management plan of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb.
The session will unlikely face a paralysis over differences between cabinet members on several controversial issues.
Education Minister Elias Bou Saab did not rule out Free Patriotic Movement ministers' participation in the session.
“This is an emergency and does not need an agenda or decrees,” he told As Safir daily.
The “You Stink” civil society campaign staged a march from downtown Beirut to the Central Bank in protest against corruption in Lebanon.
The protesters made their way from a Finance Ministry building in downtown and later arrived at the Central Bank in the Hamra neighborhood.
Soon after their arrival, activist Asaad Zebian was arrested with a member of the campaign accusing the security forces of “militia practices.”
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has accused Saudi Arabia of killing the Lebanese during the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in 2006 and expressed pessimism on the political situation of the country.
Riyadh “killed us in the 2006 July war,” and is “responsible for all the killing in the region,” Nasrallah said.
“Since its establishment, the role of Saudi Arabia and Israel has been to serve the U.S. interests in the region,” he stated.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stated on Tuesday that he has no trouble to elect head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun as president.
“I have no problem to elect Aoun as president for the Republic as it will change nothing of Lebanon’s difficulties,” said Jumblat in an interview to the As Safir daily.
A new rally was held Sunday in the northern district of Akkar to denounce government plans to turn an existing garbage dump in the Srar area into a so-called “sanitary landfill” capable of receiving trash from areas across Lebanon as part of an emergency waste management project.
The demo was organized by civil society activists and attended by vocal Akkar MP Khaled al-Daher, Mufti of Akkar Sheikh Zeid Zakaria, two representatives of Akkar Greek Orthodox Bishop Basilios Mansour, and several municipal chiefs.
Akkar anti-trash activists organized a new sit-in on Wednesday to reject government plans to set up a so-called sanitary garbage landfill in the Akkar town of Srar.
The sit-in that was held in the Akkar town of Shir Hmayrin was organized by the “Akkar is Not a Dump” campaign and other activists amid a participation by a number of municipalities and mayors from the region.
OPEMAM es miembro de EODS (European Observation and Democratic Support |Madrid | Contáctanos
