Berri: Including Baabda Declaration in Govt. Statement Will Force Others to Insist on Resistance Equation
Speaker Nabih Berri suggested that the government's policy statement include a reference to Lebanon distancing itself from regional crises instead of mentioning the “Baabda Declaration” as a way to end the current deadlock on the statement discussions, reported al-Joumhouria on Wednesday.
He explained that the March 14 camp's insistence to include the Baabda Declaration in the statement will force the March 8 camp to insist on including the “army-people-resistance” equation that the former rejects.
The ministerial committee tasked with devising a policy statement has so far failed in its mission after five sessions.
The main obstacle lies in the March 14 camp's insistence on including the Declaration in the statement.
“The best way to come up with a statement lies in refraining from mentioning the Declaration, but including its essence,” said the speaker according to al-Joumhouria.
“The policy statement should not refer to the 'army-people-resistance' formula, but stress Lebanon's right to resist Israel,” Berri continued.
The daily revealed that the speaker had tasked his envoy Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil to make this proposal during Tuesday's policy statement discussions.
The committee finished its fifth meeting on Tuesday evening without managing to reach an agreement on the clause related to resistance against Israel.
Discussions will resume at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
In a session that lasted around three hours, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour proposed a formula that “includes the Baabda Declaration and the consensual issues,” but Khalil said “it needed discussion and it is not complete.”
“We need a consensual, balanced statement that resembles the government,” he explained.
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