Khalil: Some Leaders Trying to Drag Lebanese into Strife

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil has warned that “some leaders are trying to drag Lebanese into strife for the sake of their own interests.”

“Those who are practicing obstruction in the cabinet and parliament are depriving Lebanon of chances to benefit from the loans and grants that are being offered to it to help it cope with the burden of the Syrian refugee influx, which is the biggest in the world,” Khalil cautioned.

“The political situation is in a crisis because some parties always try to take us backwards,” the minister lamented.

“We do not believe in animosity among the Lebanese and we believe that what's common among us is much bigger than the differences. Together we can create a better future for this country if we deal responsibly with the various political, security, economic and social challenges,” Khalil added.

The Free Patriotic Movement, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact.

The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership.

The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.

Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, FPM chief Jebran Bassil has recently warned that “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.”

The FPM has also announced that it will resort to street protests to press for its demands.

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has hit back at Bassil over the issue of Christian representation, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”