March 14 MPs Meet Berri to Discuss Electoral Law, Parliament Work

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A March 14 delegation held talks on Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, amid media reports saying that the March 14 camp is seeking to protest the resumption of activity at parliamentary committees in the absence of the members of the opposition.

“The meeting with Speaker Berri was lengthy and beneficial and we explained our point of view in light of the memo we carried to him. We heard his viewpoint in detail and we will resume talks soon,” MP Marwan Hamade said after the meeting in the name of the March 14 delegation.

Asked about a possible solution to the issue of the committees and the sessions, Hamade said: “Discussions with Speaker Berri were broader than that.”

As Safir newspaper reported Wednesday that Berri would emphasize to the delegation the need to resume contacts between the various rival political powers.

“He will discuss with opposition MPs the possibility of ending their boycott of parliamentary and government-related activity, including the national dialogue, especially since the subcommittees will address the parliamentary electoral law,” said As Safir.

Berri was also expected to stress the need for the concerned subcommittees to convene at parliament, not elsewhere as had been proposed over security fears voiced by the opposition.

He deemed such a request as “illogical.”

A proposal had been made for the meetings to be held at the residences of MPs out of concerns that the lawmakers' lives could be in danger.

Several of them had received death threats in recent months and they have consequently limited their activity.

Media reports had said on Monday however that the opposition lawmakers had decided to attend the meeting of the parliamentary subcommittee studying electoral draft laws but they will continue to boycott all other legislative activity.

The March 14-led opposition announced in October its boycott of government-related activity in light of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.

It accused Syria of being behind the murder and the government, comprised of mainly Syria's allies, of covering up the crime.

Comments 30
Thumb geha 05 December 2012, 09:14

berry is losing ground each day and with it any hope for the after bashar period.

Thumb mckinl 05 December 2012, 10:48

The work of the government must go on despite the tantrums of March 14. Holding Lebanon hostage should not be rewarded and the public largely agrees ... they want stability.

With this boycott of government and the revelations concerning Saqr and Hariri the prospects for March 14 in the coming elections has reached its peak and is now declining rapidly ...

The public is worried about economic and social deterioration in regards to the world wide recession. They want politicians to get Lebanon back on track, not to be supporting Syrian carnage and domestic instability.

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 11:05

@mckinl i could not have said it better.

Thumb geha 05 December 2012, 11:07

I do not know where you live, but in my circles everyone approves what m14 is doing :)

Thumb mckinl 05 December 2012, 11:27

Then you should get out more and talk to the people that struggle to keep their businesses going, put food on the table and pay their bills.

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 11:40

what a sad circle then.
as mckinl says, get out of it and open your mind. be more critical with regards to the ones you support. do not acquiesce every single thing they do without reflecting on it. In which way mingling in the Syrian affairs the way Hariri and Saqr did, is a good thing for Lebanon?

Lebanon is a democracy, the other parties have a right to exist. In this day and time, dialogue is the only way out.
Except if you want Lebanon to live through another civil war.

Thumb geha 05 December 2012, 16:04

it is clear to everybody that his m8 cabinet is the biggest disaster on Lebanon.
it is this cabinet that drove our economy to this level by their actions or should I say inactions?
people are not disoriented and know perfectly who is the roots cause of our situation. they have not forgotten all that happened with this cabinet.
so what m14 is doing now puts the country on the right track ultimately.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 12:15

could you tell me which politician is busy trying to solve the economic and social problems? i have heard none whose priority is such! all busy about the electoral laws and the "dialogue"!

so please don t say the gvt is working in that direction because beirut has now become the second most expensive city after dubai but the salaries are pocket money. did the gvt say they are looking for solutions? NO! they even laugh at the unions who ask for a solution...
internet and telecoms are the most expensive! even in dubai where the salaries are high internet is cheap and offers way more than here!

is the gvt busy in reforming the state and looking for solution to stop the waste of public money? NO.
no one is tackling those issues...

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 13:57

well i am not an M14er so useless to criticize my posts through that lens ... not like you boasting to be a sheep FPMer....
criticize M14 all you want but do not associate me with them. binary thinking as you criticized others to have Lol! i am against you so of course i m M14! hahaha! your way of thinking is rather shallow, no wonder from a orangina lover....

and you must agree that in dubai internet is faster and offers more for a vey low price...so M8 did nothing to improve a reliable and fast internet for all... neither did M14.

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 13:03

should there be a more balanced gvt? maybe yes. but for that to happen, the other camp should sit at the dialogue table. how can there be a national unity, balanced gvt if there is no understanding in the first place?
the boldness of the other camp is nurtured by the assumption that assad will fall. this is playing with the fate of lebanon. a very dangerous game to be played for those who tag themselves as the bearers of the cedar revolution.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 13:11

we cannot blame M14 for blocking the gvt while M8 has been doing so when M14 was in power.
but because there are security issues means that nothing else can be done? i disagree here.
no politicians are talking about socio economic problems because it is not in their interests! all they want is to solve THEIR personnal interest before those of the citizens!

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 13:46

i do not agree, mr. peace.
the only thing that i've seen M14 doing till now is try to crash Hezb. anything else? is that the only thing on their agenda? any socio-economical programs? now i am not saying that M8 has one either.
i am just talking abt right now, a very delicate 'right now'. yes because of security issues. and u calling urself peace should be more sensitive to it.
if we keep on playing the 'blame' game, we will remain forever in a deadlock and create vacuum for more extremism. there is not a single soul in lebanese politics that shouldnt be blamed, from one side of the spectrum to the other.
the only solution is turn our attention back to lebanon, all of the sides, and wear off the crisis together. that means national dialogue.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 13:50

yes right, that s why i insisted NO ONE be it M14 or M8! no one is busy solving people s problems.
but concerning national "dialogue" i agree with M14 that if hezbis do not want to discuss about their arsenal then why have a dialogue if you cannot discuss about ALL the issues....

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 14:06

LOL poor FT... you d rather post this to the moustaqbal internet website rather than to me!
funny how you tell that i, peace, arm the FSA! LOL... you are making a transfer it seems so the only remedy is psychaitric hospital...

you cannot deny that M8 blocked the country... so why criticize M14 for that? nothing is different. both sides are mocking lebanese people... but it only proves how brainwash you are by not accepting from others what your beloved camp did too!
as i do not belong to any camp i can see it, not you... LOL!
at least i agree with what aoun used to say about the syrian regime and that it has to fall before he accepted to be at the orders of hezbis and assad...i guess aoun was the scum of the scum when he criticized fiercly the assad family and wanted his removal for the good of lebanon...
not you having alzheimer problems....

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 17:17

that is exactly what i say mr FT: if you think you are insulting me by insulting M14 waste your energy at the task coz it won t do me anything...
i am not M14 because i have the ability to criticize them and already did...
but you are sooooooo blinded by your stupid M8 propaganda that you are not able to criticize them!

and it is sooo funny to show your double M8 standards and proving how stupid M8 can be when faced with its own contradictions.... they are masters in that game!

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:01

@peace : i will not enter in the whole debate of the Hezb arms now. i will just say that i do not like the fact either. do i feel threatened by them? no. i am not impressed by LF and FM propaganda. but i do think there should be a serious project to slowly disarm them intelligently and taking regional situation into consideration.
you know, one side says Hezb participated in the assassination of m14 politicians; the other side says that FM gave the green light to the 2006 war against Hezb, 2007 palestinian-army conflict, etc. etc.
everyone is to blame.
so now just think for your country first and get ur asses on the dialogue table. we are sick and tired.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 14:12

as long as hezbis have the decision of war and peace they are the biggest threat to lebanon! only the gvt has the right of that not a political party! they incite other parties to re arm as they see that hezbis are not blamed for that and the gvt agrees that a political party has an arsenal ...
would you agree if other political parties can do so? i guess not...
as long as they do not want to discuss about their arsenal i don t see the purpose of a dialogue as their arsenal is the core of the instability and division in lebanon.... all the rest are details easily soalvable!

Missing allouchi 05 December 2012, 14:24

excellent point peace..

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:37

partly true.
but if you try to confront them head to head, it wont work. and if it works, that means another civil war.

now, when you talk abt decision of war and peace, u mean rhetorically, right? b/c i do not believe that israel started a war in 2006, b/c hezb went beyond the fence. it was a well calculated thing, with the backing of the US and probably those who were in power at the time in lebanon.

u always seem to forget that they are part of the lebanese society. they are not some foreign entity in the country. they are not the 'palestinians' of the 70's. they are lebanese.

the arsenal is also closely linked to israel. in case of attack by israel, wld our nice little army (which is sadly attacked by the other camp - what a sad truth) be able to defend lebanon?

i am throwing disparate ideas just to show that it is not all white/black.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 15:18

"the arsenal is also closely linked to israel. in case of attack by israel, wld our nice little army"
a true patriot would give the army all the arsenal it needs and be under its command not the other way round..

in 2006 only hezbis fought israel, the army was told to stand still to prevent israel to target the whole country.
hezbis even if "lebanese" pledge allegiance to the iranian revolution and call themselves islamic resistance not lebanese resistance!
"but if you try to confront them head to head, it wont work" of course, that is why M14 is boycottng this farce of a dialogue...

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:40

...and another thing: did hariri acknowledge the arsenal or not? and now changing his mind?

its very complicated and does not boil down to: we boycott and put the country to a standstill because they dont want to discuss their arsenal.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 15:20

everyone agreed on hezbi work to liberate the south; but now they still hold on their arms under false pretexts!

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:45

the attitude of m14 is purely political. they want to be back in power at all cost. and banking on assad's fall to do so, while buying time as they put the country in turmoil. its criminal.
and who says that once assad falls, it will be crystal clear who will reign over syria? who said the war there will end and not become nastier and really sectarian?

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:46

the attitude of m14 is purely political. they want to be back in power at all cost. and banking on assad's fall to do so, while buying time as they put the country in turmoil. its criminal.
and who says that once assad falls, it will be crystal clear who will reign over syria? who said the war there will end and not become nastier and really sectarian?

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 15:25

"the attitude of m14 is purely political." of course it s a political party... just like M8!
"they want to be back in power at all cost" that is the goal of all political parties to be in power, it s the definition of it!
didn t M8 seize power under very criticizable means not waiting for the elections??
"it will be crystal clear who will reign over syria? " every time a system falls and is replaced by another you have a period of transition where chaos often takes place! but baath party is part of history now...totalitarian regimes shall be fought... and if another totalitarian regime takes power in syria and wants to rule lebanon like assad did, then you will fight it again!
aren t you fed up that the baath regime controls lebanon? i am...

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 17:14

still so stupid it seems... comparing tripoli and a whole country.. yes hezb has the decision of peace and war taking the whole country down with them!!! are you so blind or stupid? i guess stupidly blinded by orangina!

i didn t see a foreign country attack lebanon due to the unrest in tripoli.. i didn t see beirut shelled by a foreign country due to the unrest in tripoli! but hezb brought that to lebanon....

so compare what is comparable then you ll be credible...

Missing freemind 05 December 2012, 14:48

(not spam, just a bug :)

Default-user-icon John101 (Guest) 05 December 2012, 17:13

Why are the MP's protesting about going to work? Aren't they paid by our tax money to negotiate and make the country run better?

Let them shut up and go to work and make things work in the country.

Missing peace 05 December 2012, 17:35

if i sum up M8 arguments :
- 2006 war was not due to hezbis but only to israel.
- may 2008 was due to the fact that the gvt wanted to pass an illegal law against hezbollah.
- M8 democratically seized power not waiting for the 2013 elections( what the heck elections are made for?!)
- M8 blocked the parliamnt for good democratic reasons but M14 is not good reasons according to M8.
-M8 blocked the previous cabinet by resigning and forbidding the replacement of them it was totally normal but M14 blocking parliament is totalitarism
- Aoun s changes of position concerning syria and hezbollah is pragmatism but some M14 leaders change of positions are stupidity not pragmatism.
- M8 backed the lybian revolution and the bahreini one but in syria it s different, syrians cannot do what they did in the other countries!

but they are absolutely not hypocrits and double standard people....they are smart and pragmatic...

Missing allouchi 05 December 2012, 19:07

well said peace.