Salam to Call for Cabinet Session if Agreement Reached on Productivity

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said he would not call for a session without a prior agreement among its members to revitalize the cabinet, warning that “degeneration” would lead to “collapse.”

In remarks carried by several local newspapers that hit the newsstands on Monday, Salam said the cabinet members should strike a deal to restore the government's productivity and stop the paralysis, which made the last few sessions “meaningless and useless.”

The PM held all parties represented in the cabinet responsible for the status quo, accusing them of “taking turns” in paralyzing the executive authority.

“The insistence to immobilize the government would lead to a gradual degeneration which ends up with collapse,” he warned.

“Its repercussions would impact security (in the country) because the erosion of the state's legitimacy would allow assailants to tamper with stability,” Salam said.

He expressed regret that the concept of consensus, which he had called for, was being used by some parties to paralyze the government.

On the contrary, “its aim was to encourage the participation of all parties in productivity and the confrontation of this exceptional stage,” he said.

Salam was referring to a governing mechanism approved by the cabinet members in light of the vacuum at Baabda Palace under which decisions and decrees require the approval of its 24 ministers.

His remarks were an indication that there would be no cabinet session this week over differences on extra-budgetary spending and a decree on Lebanese University’s contract professors.

Last week, the cabinet failed to approve the LU decree over differences between the representatives of different parties on the appointment of deans.

Disagreements on the spending from outside the state budget have also left the fate of salaries of civil servants unclear.

Lebanon has been without an official budget since 2005. The cabinet should allocate the extra spending.

G.K.

H.K.