Hariri: We Firmly Stand by Salam, Won't Give Hizbullah Chance to Undermine Dialogue
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri threw his support Monday behind Prime Minister Tammam Salam while stressing that Mustaqbal will not allow Hizbullah to “undermine dialogue.”
“Any Lebanese cannot but feel insulted by the scenes of the garbage that floated in Beirut's streets and the rest of the regions,” Hariri said in a statement released by his press office.
His remarks come a day after heavy rains turned streets in parts of Lebanon into rivers of trash due to the garbage that has been accumulating in random sites since the July 17 closure of the Naameh landfill.
“What's needed is to put the decision that was taken by the government on the track of implementation through approving the decrees and measures that are required by the implementation process, and through asking all the relevant parties to shoulder their responsibilities,” Hariri said.
“In this regard, we firmly stand by PM Tammam Salam and renew our confidence in his premiership, management and wisdom,” he added.
Hariri noted that Salam, along with the panel headed by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb, are “capable of taking measures to overcome the obstacles that are preventing the implementation of the feasible plans, and of paving the ground for an integrated environmental project that can meet the aspirations of citizens and civil society groups.”
“Resolving the garbage crisis requires everyone to shoulder their responsibilities to enable PM Salam to convene the cabinet as soon as possible,” added Hariri.
The country has been in the grip of a months-long trash crisis caused by the government shutting down the country's main landfill in Naameh without finding an alternative.
Political bickering, the refusal of various municipalities to accept Beirut's trash and the objections of some residents and civil society activists have prolonged the crisis.
In September, the government approved a plan devised by Shehayyeb and a team of experts which calls for waste management to be turned over to municipalities in 18 months, the setting up of “sanitary landfills” in Akkar, the Bekaa and Bourj Hammoud, and the reopening for seven days of the controversial Naameh landfill.
Turning to dialogue and the tensions with Hizbullah, Hariri renewed his movement's “commitment to dialogue” despite what he described as “the ongoing attempts to plunge it into futile debate and extraordinary agenda topics” and “the rhetoric of intimidating the Lebanese with regional junctures and illusionary victories.”
“We simply and clearly want dialogue to continue under the ceiling of the Lebanese national interest and nothing else, not within the boundaries of preconditions, foreign diktats and military shows of force,” the ex-PM added.
He also stressed that Russia's military intervention in Syria “has nothing to do with determining the fate of the presidency in Lebanon.”
“In this period in the history of Lebanon, dialogue must be limited to ending the presidential vacuum and agreeing on a national figure who can activate the work of state institutions,” Hariri went on to say.
“We will not grant Hizbullah the opportunity to undermine dialogue, because it is the only way to manage our differences, no matter how much the disagreements deepen, and because we have partners around the dialogue table with whom we share loyalty to Lebanon and keenness on the national interest and coexistence,” the ex-PM added.
A national dialogue session was held earlier on Monday and another is scheduled for next Tuesday. Several sessions have been held so far amid little progress on the debated topics.
Speaker Nabih Berri had launched the dialogue sessions among the main political parties to discuss a stalemate that has frozen government institutions for months.
Y.R.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/192906 |