Govt. Approves Policy Statement as LF 'Strongly Objects' to Resistance Text

The Council of Ministers on Thursday approved the new government's Policy Statement, after it was finalized a day earlier by a ministerial panel.

“We demanded placing the strategic decisions exclusively in the hands of the state and our demand was recorded without being added to the Statement,” Social Affairs Minister Richard Kouyoumjian of the LF said after the session.

“We managed to modify some terms and phrases in a minor manner,” he added.

Deputy Premier Ghassan Hasbani of the LF meanwhile said his party's ministers objected to the failure to add the phrase “within the state's legitimate institutions” to a clause related to resisting Israel.

Earlier in the day, State Minister for Administrative Development Affairs of the LF said her party has “reservations and strong objections to the clause related to the resistance.”

“We have asked for limiting the defense strategy to the Lebanese armed forces exclusively, but of course this has not been accepted,” Chidiac added.

She also said that Hizbullah would not have appointed a health minister who “wears neckties and shakes hands” if it had “an intention to confront the international community.”

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet session, Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah said President Michel Aoun lauded the completion of the 17-clause Statement.

“He hoped these ideas will be achieved, describing them as necessary and related to the people's needs,” Jarrah added.

“Prime Minister Saad Hariri for his part said that the finalization of the Policy Statement in three days was remarkable, calling for further governmental solidarity,” the minister said.

“We should not preoccupy ourselves with political bickering and the Lebanese are waiting for a lot from us and they are expecting achievements in some crucial living issues,” Jarrah quoted Hariri as saying.

He added that “most amendments were lingual to further clarify a clause or a topic and nothing essential was changed,” while pointing out that “a segment related to cultural heritage was added.”

Speaking at the beginning of the session, Aoun said the statement's clauses had “covered all essential topics,” urging the parties “not to waste time.”

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to call for parliamentary confidence sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

LBCI television had reported Wednesday that the Policy Statement will stress Lebanon's “commitment to a harmonious financial and monetary policy that enhances confidence in the national economy, lowers the debt-to-GDP ratio through increasing the economy's size, and slashes the treasury's deficit.”

“As of the 2019 state budget, Lebanon is committed to conducting a financial rectification with a rate of 1% over a period of five years through boosting revenues and slashing expenditure, starting by Electricite du Liban's annual deficit which would be eventually totally eliminated,” LBCI quoted the government as saying in the statement.

The government also says that it is “committed the maintaining a fixed national currency exchange rate seeing as it is a priority for social and economic stability.”