Salam Says No to Unilateral Governance, Urges Speedy Election of President
Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned Lebanon's bickering political parties on Tuesday that they would fail in governing the country without consensus, urging them to elect a new president without further delay.
“Lebanon is the only thing we've got. Putting it in danger is an unforgivable crime” such as the crime of the presidential vacuum, Salam said at the Lebanese Education Conference that was held at the Phoenicia hotel in Beirut.
“No political party is capable of changing the circumstances in the region … No single side would be able to succeed alone in deciding the fate of the country,” he stressed.
“No side would be able to manage our internal affairs … away from consensus,” the premier stated.
Salam also urged all parties to speed up the election of a president to regulate the work of state institutions and normalize the country's constitutional life.
The country has been without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May last year.
Differences between the March 8 and 14 alliances over a compromise candidate have caused the vacuum at Baabda Palace.
Salam urged political parties to avoid verbal attacks and consolidate dialogue and rapprochement.
Tackling the problems that public education is facing, the PM said the sector needs a clear strategy to be able to meet the demands of the century.
He said the cabinet is ready to discuss the education ministry's strategy on the sector.
Education Minister Elias Bou Saab addressed the conference before him.
“If we don't give teachers their rights, then we would cause the slowdown of the education sector in Lebanon,” he said.
He hoped that the controversial public sector wage scale would be adopted by the parliament to give the teachers the much awaited raise.
Bou Saab also called for providing students at public schools safe and healthy conditions.
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