Hizbullah Accuses Miqati of Violating Taef Accord over 'Unconstitutional' Budget Approval
A confidence crisis between the Shiite Duo and Prime Minister Najib Miqati appears to be growing following the latest controversy over the manner in which the state budget was passed in Cabinet, the pro-Hizbullah al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday.
MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hizbullah meanwhile accused Miqati of “violating the Taef Accord,” adding that what the premier “did in Cabinet was unacceptable and unconstitutional.”
“The eyes will be on you in the coming period and you bear the responsibility for this state budget,” Fadlallah added.
Al-Akhbar meanwhile said that Miqati “smuggled the state budget taking advantage of a state of chaos that engulfed the session after the item of military appointments was raised from outside the agenda.”
“Ministers were surprised by WhatsApp groups quoting the premier as saying that Cabinet had approved the budget, something that didn’t actually happen,” the daily added.
“When the budget approval session kicked off, the ministers did not have paper copies (of the budget) in their hands after the amendments that were introduced. They didn’t even have electronic copies on the laptops present in front of them,” al-Akhbar said.
“What happened with the state budget?” the newspaper quoted Deputy PM Saade al-Shami as saying loudly at the end of the session. “The same question was addressed by Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram to Finance Minister Youssef Khalil,” the daily added.
“I don’t know,” Khalil reportedly answered.
Bayram later announced in a TV Interview that “the budget was not discussed and was not legally approved in Cabinet.”
“As the budget discussion began, something was raised from outside the agenda. We were asking for clarifications about this issue and we were surprised that the session was adjourned and we didn’t know what happened,” the minister added.
On Saturday, Public Works Minister Ali Hamiyeh of Hizbullah voiced similar remarks.
“To us, the state budget has not been approved and it was issued through a declaration and not a discussion. We will decide what steps to take in the coming days,” he told al-Jadeed TV.
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