Salam Holds Talks with Three Ministers, Army Commander
Prime Minister Tammam Salam held separate talks Tuesday with three ministers of his cabinet as well as the army chief, state-run National News Agency reported, a day after the Free Patriotic Movement announced that it will boycott national dialogue for reasons involving a long-running dispute over military appointments and the cabinet's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.
“Salam met this morning with Telecom Minister Butros Harb at the Grand Serail and talks tackled the situations and the developments,” NNA said.
The prime minister also discussed the developments and the local situations with Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, the agency added.
Later in the day, Salam met with State Minister for Administrative Development Nabil du Freij and discussed with him issues related to his ministry, NNA said.
The premier also held talks on Tuesday with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji.
Quoting ministerial sources, An Nahar newspaper reported Tuesday that Salam is “weighing his options” regarding the cabinet's fate in light of what happened in Monday's dialogue session.
“Contacts are underway with a number of ministers, especially Hizbullah's two ministers, to explore their stances on attending Thursday's ordinary cabinet session, knowing that Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said yesterday that the cabinet session will be held on Thursday even in the absence of FPM's two ministers,” An Nahar added.
The FPM's latest boycott of cabinet meetings was linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments and the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.
The defense minister has recently postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers.
Addressing Salam on Friday, FPM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).”
Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”
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