Salam continues consultations, vows 'understanding' with Shiite Duo
Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam kicked off Thursday the second day of non-binding consultations with lawmakers over the formation of the new government.
He is expected to deliver a speech after the consultations.
“We have elected a president and are forming a government under (Israeli) fire and this is considered deliberate. Let the prime minister be vigilant,” MP Jamil al-Sayyed said after meeting Salam.
“Balance is needed, quotas are rejected and I have asked PM-designate Salam that security and the judiciary don’t be under the control of any camp,” al-Sayyed added.
MP Osama Saad for his part said “we are before a precious opportunity to achieve a peaceful, secure and constitutional transition to a national, civil, just and modern state.”
“The government must guarantee national consensus over Lebanon’s sensitive issues, such as the defense policy, the foreign policy and other files, and here lies the importance of what is being said about respect for the National Pact,” Saad added.
“After achieving full Zionist withdrawal from Lebanese territory, Lebanon must get rid of the (ceasefire) agreement that is shameful to its national security, and its government must devise a national alternative for our national security. The government and all the loyal forces must also foil the enemy’s efforts to establish strategic gains for it in Lebanon,” Saad went on to say.
MP Jihad al-Samad meanwhile quoted Salam as telling him: “In the face of the current dispute, there are only two solutions: ‘reaching an understanding or reaching an understanding.’"
MP Paula Yacoubian meanwhile stressed that foreign forces had wanted the return of Najib Mikati as premier and not the designation of Salam.
"A political leader called the president of a European country, suggesting splitting the votes of his bloc between Mikati and Salam due to the popular pressure he was under," Yacoubian revealed, noting that efforts by the Change MPs and popular pressure were behind Salam's nomination.
Yacoubian also noted that the U.S. had a "veto" on Salam due to his anti-Israel stance at the International Court of Justice.
MP Ibrahim Mneimneh for his part said he wants "all components to be represented in the government, but without possessing the ability to obstruct its work."
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement had boycotted the first day of consultations on Wednesday.
MP Qassem Hashem of Amal’s Development and Liberation bloc said the boycott does not mean that the two parties will not take part in the government.
Hezbollah and Amal have objected against the manner in which Salam was named premier on Monday, accusing unnamed parties of not honoring an alleged agreement for the re-appointment of Najib Mikati as premier.
Both parties had voted for President Joseph Aoun in Thursday’s presidential election session, after reports said that they received “guarantees” regarding several issues.
“PM-designate Salam is showing openness and does not have an intention to exclude anyone,” Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said after meeting Salam at the beginning of the parliamentary consultations on Wednesday.
MP Waddah al-Sadek of the Change bloc meanwhile stressed that “no state has interfered in the elections and consultations and those saying that are lying.”
The head of the Democratic Gathering MP Taymour Jumblat -- whose bloc’s votes were crucial for Salam’s appointment -- stressed "the need to communicate with everyone and launch a dialogue with everyone," emphasizing that "no one can eliminate the other."
MP Michel Mouawad of the Tajaddod bloc meanwhile said that "the presence of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement in the opposition does not mean that it is an exclusion of Shiites."
"We hope this government will contain the biggest number of political blocs, and it would be better if everyone joins it, so that it carries out a national reconciliation," Mouawad added, after his talks with Salam.
Salam said Tuesday that he will not marginalize any side in Lebanon, an apparent reference to Hezbollah, which in past years opposed his appointment as prime minister and this year indicated its preference for another candidate.
"I'm not an advocate of exclusion but rather unity and my hands are extended to everyone so that no citizen feels marginalized," Salam stressed.
Salam, who has served as the head of the International Court of Justice, said that he will work on spreading the state’s authority on all parts of the country.
Over the past years, Hezbollah and its allies have blocked Salam from becoming prime minister, casting him as a U.S.-backed candidate.
Source: Naharnet
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