Report: Salam Rejects 'Blackmailing' of Govt., Speaks of 'Long Project' to Topple it
Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that he will not become a “false witness to practices that serve to obstruct the cabinet,” reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday ahead of a cabinet session set for Thursday.
Ministerial sources told the daily: “The contacts that he had held over the past week have not led to any result.”
“The PM has however become aware that the ongoing dispute at cabinet is not a random occurrence, but it is a part of an ongoing project aimed at striking the last foundation of the state through crippling government work and then redistributing roles among the side that its obstructing its functioning,” they explained.
“Tomorrow's session will be open to discussions over any issue. We will either reach a solution, postpone talks, or suspend the meeting, meaning that blackmailing the cabinet will be rejected,” they explained.
“The manner in which the issue of the government decision-taking mechanism is being proposed is aimed at obstructing the privileges of the premiership and undermining the authority of the president by distributing it among 24 ministers,” the sources told the daily.
Informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper Wednesday that Salam will continue holding contacts with all sides until the last moment before cabinet convenes on Thursday morning to reach a solution to pending disputes.
All sides are however still committed to their positions, while Hizbullah has maintained silence because it is “banking on the contacts that Speaker Nabih Berri is carrying out to protect the cabinet against any emergency that may topple it,” they explained.
The Free Patriotic Movement, which has been staging street protests in recent weeks, is accusing Salam of infringing on the Christian president's powers in the absence of a head of state.
During a stormy cabinet session on July 9, a deal was reached to make the debate over the decision-taking mechanism the first item on Thursday's agenda.
The movement's ministers will allegedly refuse to discuss any other issue before tackling the mechanism dispute.
FPM leader MP Michel Aoun said on Tuesday that his party does not intend to topple Salam's government.
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