Report: Berri Makes Progress in Bridging March 8-14 Differences in Parliamentary Committee
Speaker Nabih Berri has made major progress in bridging sharp differences between the March 8 and 14 members of parliament’s finance and budget committee after the opposition MPs boycotted it.
An Nahar daily said Sunday that Berri will head a meeting of the committee on Wednesday after he exerted strong efforts to revive the work of the group.
The March 14-led opposition lawmakers boycotted the committee in November in protest of comments by its head MP Ibrahim Kanaan against Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora.
Kanaan, a member of Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, had accused Saniora of embezzlement during his tenure as finance minister from 1992 to 1998 and from 2000 to 2004.
The March 14 lawmakers walked out of the committee after al-Mustaqbal MP Jamal al-Jarrah criticized Kanaan’s accusations against Saniora and stressed the boycott will continue until the March 8 MP issues an apology.
Al-Jarrah accused Kanaan of spreading lies about Saniora, saying that his claims are baseless and lack objectivity.
He said the Change and Reform MP was abusing his position as head of the committee to score political gains.
Before heading the meeting of the committee at 1:30 pm Wednesday, Berri will preside over another meeting for the heads of parliamentary committees and their secretaries, An Nahar said.
As Safir daily reported Saturday the speaker will warn lawmakers that if any MP abstains from attending more than three committee sessions, he would be considered resigned and replaced with another in accordance with parliament’s by-laws.
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