Al-Rahi Following up Controversy on Cabinet Decrees

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is closely following up the issue of decrees that have been signed without the approval of all cabinet members, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that MP Ibrahim Kanaan from Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc met with al-Rahi in Bkirki on Tuesday and discussed the issue with him.

Around 70 decrees have been passed without the signatures of the FPM and its allies.

This has prompted FPM, Hizbullah and Tashnag ministers to walk out of the cabinet session on Tuesday with the support of the Marada Movement whose minister was abroad.

But a last minute settlement was made ahead of Thursday’s session for the decrees to be presented to them for signature.

The FPM has been claiming that the signature of only 18 ministers violated the cabinet's working mechanism in the absence of a president.

Lebanon's top Christian post has been vacant since May 2014.

Kanaan told al-Joumhouria that “constitutional issues linked to coexistence cannot be tampered with.”

“The infringement on the authorities of the president and the violation of his rights … cannot be justified,” he said.

The lawmaker stressed that the signatures of all of the government’s 24 ministers are necessary to pass the decrees because usually they require a president’s signature.

Al-Joumhouria also quoted Bkirki sources as saying that al-Rahi is discussing the issue with the rest of the Christian parties to resolve the problem.

G.K.

D.A.