Miqati Keen on Ties with Suleiman and Hizbullah
Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that President Michel Suleiman is his constitutional partner and is keen on his relations with him in addition to his ties with Hizbullah.
In remarks to As Safir daily published Thursday, Miqati said: “We have ideal ties and I am keen on them.”
He stressed that his relations with Hizbullah could not deteriorate and could not reach the stage of no confidence.
Miqati also hoped that the government would start to be more productive after it held a session and approved a wage boost for public and private sector employees on Wednesday.
About the reforms called for by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, the PM said: “If he wants a meter of reforms, I want a kilometer but things don’t happen in a single step.”
“Let us cooperate to find solutions to the crisis of management and ways to fight corruption,” he told As Safir.
“Reform starts from here and not anywhere else,” Miqati said, stressing that he “doesn’t respond to any attempts to pressure” him.
Aoun and Miqati have been at loggerheads over the FPM chief’s demands to place several projects on the cabinet agenda. The lawmaker has criticized the cabinet’s poor performance and said Wednesday “let Miqati tell us about his reform project and let’s see if we would support it or not.”
His comment came after the premier said on Twitter that “not everyone preaching reform is necessarily a reformist.”
Asked about the so-called false witnesses and demands by Hizbullah to put the issue on the cabinet agenda, Miqati told As Safir that the issue cannot be discussed until the appointment of a head for the Higher Judicial Council.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has urged Miqati to put the issue up for discussion and later refer it to the HJC.
The false witnesses have reportedly misled investigators probing ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.
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