March 8 Asks Aoun to Accept Shura Council Decision as FPM Refuses ‘Side Agreement’
The allies of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in the March 8 forces are pressuring him into being “rational” and “dealing positively” with the Shura Council’s rejection of a wage hike proposal made by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas who is loyal to Aoun.
An Nahar and As Safir newspapers said Wednesday that March 8 leaders are urging Aoun’s “Change and Reform bloc to deal positively with the decision of the Shura Council under the slogan of preserving the interests of workers and employees.”
The March 8 forces are also asking Aoun to deal with “rationality and pragmatism” with the Council’s rejection of the cabinet decision on the wage boost that was proposed by Nahhas – a member of the Change and Reform bloc ministers in the government.
The majority forces are seeking to send a clear message to Aoun that they should respect decisions issued by legal and judicial institutions, the dailies said.
Despite a positive reaction to the March 8 requests, FPM sources told As Safir daily that they would reject a decision reached between the General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees before the cabinet's approval of Nahhas’ proposal last month.
Their deal lies in setting the minimum wage at LL675,000 – excluding the transportation allowance while the cabinet decision, which was rejected by the Shura Council on Tuesday, called for raising the minimum salary to LL868,000 – a sum that includes a LL236,000 transportation allowance.
The FPM sources said that the GLC-Economic Committees deal is “full of legal violations and the Shura Council would definitely reject it if the cabinet issued a decree on it.”
If the “side agreement” that was reached under the sponsorship of Premier Najib Miqati was put to vote in the government, the Change and Reform bloc would vote against it, they told As Safir.
The FPM sources sent an indirect warning to Miqati, saying the agreement’s “spokespersons” should assume their responsibilities if that formula was adopted.
“We won’t be partners” in that, they said.
Following a meeting it held in Rabieh on Tuesday, the Change and Reform bloc decided to form a committee to study the Shura Council’s rejection of the wage hike decree.
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