Beirut: Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri’s government is expected to win a parliamentary vote of confidence after a mild first session on Tuesday that regurgitated previously discussed policy statements.
He will speak later on Wednesday and respond to various remarks raised by deputies, though he believed that “the higher the confidence level of the communities the higher [the country’s] prosperity”.
In his opening address to parliament, Hariri declared that the “State gains the trust of its nationals when it provides them with services in a fair and transparent way”, as he called on parliament to approve the 2017 budget to help in the process.
He pledged to start addressing chronic problems starting with severe electricity and water shortages, waste management and pollution crisis, interminable traffic woes and perhaps addressing the gravest political concern that parliamentarians neglected, the necessity to adopt a new electoral law before the Spring 2017 polls.
Irrespective of his assurances, deputies who spoke throughout the Tuesday session, starting with Hariri’s predecessor, Tammam Salam, identified clear hurdles.
Salam pleaded for the Taif Accords as he gave his vote of confidence, while Antoine Zahra (Lebanese Forces) was equally supportive, though he expressed his party’s reservations against a clause in the policy statement on the right of the Lebanese people for resistance. “How will the people have trust in the constitutional institutions now that they have relinquished the authority given to them as an executive authority to defend Lebanon?” asked Zahra.
Khalid Al Daher [Future] did not give his vote of confidence as he criticised the same clause that the LF has, adding: “The policy statement has many contradictions. It relinquishes sovereignty many times”, as he criticised Hezbollah, disparaged the latter’s participation in the wars in Syria, and requested the government to issue a blanket pardon for prisoners arrested for alleged acts of terrorism.
It is unclear how many of the estimated 8,000 prisoners in Lebanon fall into this category, but the reference elicited a sharp personal rebuke from Riyad Rahal [Future]. Although Speaker Nabih Berri ordered that the exchange be stricken from the record, because it included personal insults and swears, videos were widely available for all to see and hear.
Daher was not the only parliamentarian who withheld confidence as the Phalange Party concluded that the political vision of the Hariri cabinet “contradicted” its own. According to Sami Gemayel, “Sovereignty is not a minor issue and it is about citizens’ right to determine their fate and future without the presence of someone deciding for them”.
He recalled the two Phalange martyrs, Pierre Gemayel and Antoine Ganem, and decried “the presence of two arsenals” in the country, arms and corruption, both of which, he hammered, “became minor things”.
All of the speakers focused on the contemplated new electoral law, as Ebrahim Kanaan [Free Patriotic Movement] highlighted the need to devise a new one, oblivious to the fact that Lebanese elites have repeated this mantra for the past several years without reaching an agreement.
Ali Ammar [Hezbollah] hoped “that the current government shows commitment to its policy statement, no more no less”. while Hassan Fadlallah [Hezbollah] said his party believes that “the electoral law cannot be imposed on the sects and political forces” and that “there should be dialogue” though it insisted on proportionality.
Earlier in the week, Hezbollah officials met Waleed Jumblat [Progressive Socialist Party], to appease the latter’s fury at the proposed proportionality law, which the PSP ruled out categorically.
“Protecting diversity in Lebanon is our responsibility and the issue of the electoral law must be addressed in a scientific manner,” said Gazi Aridi [PSP], and while Aridi reminded his colleagues that the PSP’s founder, Kamal Jumblat, had called for proportional representation, the offer was made decades ago when Lebanon was “not sectarian like” it is today.
Aridi lamented that “there is no state of law in Lebanon”, and insisted that whatever electoral law is ushered in must protect Lebanon’s special structure, and the status of minorities.