Cabinet in Limbo as Salam Holds onto Authority on Setting the Agenda
Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said that he was procrastinating in calling for a cabinet session this week over a dispute on the appointment of high-ranking officials while stressing that he has the jurisdiction is setting the agenda.
In remarks to local newspapers published on Monday, Salam said he decided to procrastinate on inviting cabinet ministers for a session on the basis that such a move, in addition to setting the agenda, fall under the powers granted to the premier.
He slammed the Free Patriotic Movement without naming it, saying “they always hold the cabinet responsible and urge it to take measures while they paralyze its work.”
“They want us to work, follow up issues, preserve the country's economy and security, while they play the game of paralysis,” he told the newspapers.
“This is not the first time that we are witnessing such a behavior with the cabinet, but the only difference today is that the obstruction of its work is being done amid a parliamentary paralysis and a presidential vacuum that entered its second year,” Salam said.
The paralysis came as a result of the warning issued by FPM officials last week that the party's ministers would block any cabinet decision before security and military appointments are made.
FPM chief MP Michel Aoun has bluntly rejected any attempt to extend the terms of the officials.
He has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers.
Roukoz is his son-in-law.
“Is it fair to paralyze the country because of a single post or because of a certain gain?” Salam asked.
He hoped that Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, who met on Sunday, would make a positive contribution.
Berri reiterated to his visitors in remarks published in al-Mustaqbal daily on Monday that he backed the cabinet.
He vowed to “confront the attempt to paralyze the work of the executive authority and its productivity.”
G.K.
H.K.
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