Derbas: Salam to Announce His Decision at Right Time

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, who is close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam, announced Sunday that the embattled premier will “announce his decision at the right time,” amid reports that the PM is on the brink of resignation over the growing cabinet crisis.

“The government is not only its head, as there are ministers and components, and it is unfair to blame the premier for the behavior of the components,” said Derbas after meeting Salam in Msaitbeh.

“What we're seeing on the streets is an inevitable results of the cabinet paralysis,” the minister added, referring to the accumulation of garbage on the streets and protests over the government's failure to address the waste management crisis.

“The premier will not be forced to make any decision. He has a freewill and the ability to decide and he will announce his decision at the right time,” Derbas said.

He noted, however, that Salam “will not renounce his responsibilities, as he knows, more than anyone else, that the fate of the country is hinging on his decision.”

“I believe that this man will not abandon his responsibilities, seeing as his family has a long history of shouldering (national) responsibility,” Derbas pointed out.

Asked about what Salam intends to do in the coming days, the minister said: “All options are open before the premier. No one can usurp any of his powers.

“Resignation is part of his jurisdiction, as well as calling on the cabinet to convene or giving it a vacation, in addition to the agenda and the order of its articles,” Derbas added.

Y.R.