Hariri's Cabinet Wins Parliament Confidence with 87 Votes

Prime Minister Saad Hariri won a parliamentary vote of confidence after 87 lawmakers voted in favor of his government on Wednesday.

Kataeb MPs Sami Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel and Samer Saadeh, and MP Khaled Daher withheld their confidence from the cabinet.

MP Imad al-Hout, the only representative in the parliament of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya abstained from voting.

Only 92 out of 127 lawmakers were present during the vote.

The parliament convened on Wednesday for the second day in a row where Hariri responded to the MPs remarks made a day earlier, he said: “We thank the Lebanese army and security forces for the sacrifices they made. I hereby vow that the government will follow-up on the issue of the detained servicemen until they return safe to their homes.

“I confirm that there some contentious issues similar to the issue of arms,” he said in reference to Hizbullah's arms without mentioning it.

“We want a new electoral law. Each one of us has a role in that regard,” he added.

“I believe that no one has an objection with the regard to the woman’s quota in the parliament.”

“We have stressed commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The STL was primarily established to achieve justice,” said the PM.

“A big part of corruption can be eradicated by State mechanization. We will not allow any violations in the telecommunications data sector and the cabinet decision will soon be implemented,” he concluded.

Although three days of parliamentary debate, starting Tuesday, had been scheduled but the political forces agreed to limit the number of speeches and the government won a vote of confidence on Wednesday.

On Tuesday and after delivering their speeches, the majority of MPs gave their vote of confidence for the cabinet including ex-PM Tammam Salam, Change and Reform bloc, Lebanese Forces bloc, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Democratic Gathering bloc, Development and Liberation bloc.

MPs that voted against were: ex-PM Najib Miqati who did not attend the parliamentary session, MP Khaled al-Daher and Kataeb party bloc which said that the government’s political vision “contradicts” with the party's vision.

For his part, MP Botros Harb abstained from voting for or against confidence in the government in order to “give the new president and premier a chance to honor their promises.”