Berri Stresses Importance of National Dialogue

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday that the resumption of the national dialogue would have a positive impact on the country regardless of the outcome.

Speaker Nabih Berri said Sunday that hadn’t there been fears of sectarian strife in Lebanon, the parliament would have resorted to a vote of confidence against Premier Najib Miqati’s government.

In an interview with the Saudi Okaz newspaper, Berri said: “We will continue through the parliament to pressure the government to force it into speeding up” the procedures that would lead to oil exploration in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged all Lebanese parties on Friday to attend the national dialogue that President Michel Suleiman had called for, describing it a chance to promote consensus.

“The national dialogue in Lebanon is an opportunity to consolidate consensus and national unity,” Westerwelle said following talks with Premier Najib Miqati on the second and last day of his visit to Beirut.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat slammed on Friday the March 14-led oppositions’ stance over the national dialogue, stressing the importance of all-party talks to resolve all disputed issues.

“We have to resolve our disputes and reduce political tension,” Jumblat told An Nahar newspaper.

Premier Najib Miqati hoped on Friday that the cabinet’s ability to overcome the spending crisis would also materialize in the appointment of civil servants to different positions in state institutions.

During a session held under President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace on Thursday, the cabinet approved an urgent draft law to allocate LL10.394 billion in treasury bills to cover the expenses of institutions for 2012.

Speaker Nabih Berri stated on Wednesday that the Baabda Palace meeting on Tuesday tackled the need to reactivate the government’s functioning.

His visitors quoted him as saying: “The gatherers agreed to tackling the government spending dispute and the need to complete the 2012 state budget.”

Lebanon was able to restore 530 square kilometers of a maritime zone that it considers it to be within its Exclusive Economic Zone, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Lebanon and Israel are bickering over a zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars.

The cabinet will approve a draft-law to legalize the controversial extra-budgetary spending during its session on Thursday, President Michel Suleiman announced.

In remarks to As Safir daily on Wednesday, Suleiman said the government will resolve the dispute on the spending through legal ways and will not resort to a political settlement.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday in the first of a series of visits by European officials aimed at voicing support for Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Tuesday.

A European diplomat told the daily that the visits are a “show of support for Lebanon given the deteriorating Syrian crisis.”

A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party and the National Struggle Front that are headed by MP Walid Jumblat will visit Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday to discuss with him the National Dialogue that is set to take place in Baabda next week, An Nahar daily reported.

The newspaper said the delegation’s expected visit to Ain el-Tineh comes against the backdrop of Jumblat’s announcement on Sunday that only dialogue can prevent a spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon.