Parliament Passes Draft Laws Except for Municipal Funds as Berri Urges Electing President

The parliament approved on the second day of its legislative session Friday most of the draft laws that were on its agenda except for one on municipalities' telecom revenues, as Speaker Nabih Berri hailed the Dahieh region for its “awareness” after Thursday's deadly bombings.

“The parliament has approved a law obliging those entering Lebanon to declare the amount of money they're carrying if it exceeds $15,000,” al-Jadeed television said.

The legislature also passed a law on exchanging tax information with other countries and other financial bills.

A dispute, however, erupted over the draft law on distributing mobile networks' revenues to municipalities, which was part of the so-called settlement that led to the parliament's return to legislation after around a one-year interruption.

But an exit was reached after Prime Minister Tammam Salam advised those who submitted the bill to resort to the decree that the government is currently studying, "because it almost serves the same purpose," LBCI television said.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc chief ex-PM Fouad Saniora told Berri during the debate that Mustaqbal "was not part of the agreement" that was reached between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces on the issue of municipalities earlier this week, al-Jadeed TV said.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat meanwhile warned that his bloc "will strip the session of its quorum if there is an inclination to pass the municipalities law," al-Jadeed said.

The legislature had approved 24 items during its Thursday session, including the food safety law, the law on granting nationality to emigrants of Lebanese origin, the law on providing the army with “urgent equipment and infrastructure” and around 20 urgent financial bills.

Berri opened the session by stressing that “the awareness of Dahieh's residents” was stronger than “the malice of the aggressors.”

Two Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up Thursday in a busy street in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 44 people and wounding 239 others, in the bloodiest such attack in years.

Urging the Arab League to “declare war against terrorism,” Berri noted that Lebanon currently requires “a domestic roadmap based on consensus, which should start by the election of a president.”

The speaker also revealed that he has received phone calls from Hamas' top leaders Ismail Haniya and Khaled Meshaal, who confirmed to him that “the Palestinians who allegedly blew themselves up in Bourj al-Barajneh were not registered in Lebanon as refugees” and that the reported names are those of “two individuals who were killed two years ago in Syria.”

“The terrorist groups circulated the terrorists' identities to sow strife between us and our (Palestinian) brothers,” Berri pointed out.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam meanwhile told parliament that the fight against terrorism “does not only require security measures but also national unity,” expressing his confidence that “the members of the government will cooperate with me to resolve the crisis.”

Y.R.