Derbas: Failure to Discuss Cabinet Agenda Could Delay Public Salaries
Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas voiced fears on Saturday that the salaries of the public sector could be delayed if the Free Patriotic Movement continues to reject cabinet discussions and set preconditions that the thorny file of security and military appointments is solved first.
“I might not be able to pay the salaries for the employees at my ministry if the cabinet did not discuss the items on its agenda and approve the treasury loans, which could also drag on other ministries,” Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.
“PM Tammam Salam is overturning positions. I believe things must be taken easier for now at least until next week,” the minister said, adding that he cannot predict what will Salam's stance be.
Salam scheduled a cabinet session on Thursday to discuss the items on the agenda, although the ministers of FPM chief Michel Aoun refuse discussions until the government agrees to appoint new security civil servants.
Meanwhile, ministerial sources questioned the feasibility of holding a cabinet session next week in light of the FPM and Hizbullah stances not to discuss any item unless the appointments are finalized.
Derbas added that Lebanon could lose billions of dollars in investments if Aoun's ministers remain committed to their stance, saying: “We cannot afford the disruption of the government and the country for more than two weeks.”
“On Thursday, we are going to a cabinet session and we will reject Aoun's formula and his threats to either appoint Roukoz or resort to the streets, and that is when the problem will emerge. It will be up to Salam.”
Aoun has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers.
For his part, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi eased off the fears on that matter saying: “I have no concern of the obstruction, because despite all the difficulties we face, there are wise men who can maintain the minimum work of the executive institutions." he told An Nahar daily.
The government failed last Thursday to agree on the appointments of high-ranking security and military figures.
Following the session, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq issued a decree effectively extending the term of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous for two more years.
His move prompted Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who is a member of the FPM, to warn that Change and Reform bloc ministers would block any cabinet decision before security appointments are made.
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