Berri, Miqati at Loggerheads over Country’s Turmoil

Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Najib Miqati traded criticism for the second day on Thursday after the head of the Amal movement accused the government of not exerting strong efforts to resolve the country’s turmoil.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, Berri wondered how the cabinet postponed its session till the end of the month amid the deadly gunbattles in the northern city of Tripoli and the series of kidnappings of Syrian and Turkish nationals last week.

The government is going with the flow and not providing the necessary “treatment for the illness that is threatening it,” the speaker, who is also Amal chief, said.

But on Thursday morning, Miqati called for a cabinet session at the Grand Serail next Wednesday. Another session will be held at Baabda palace on Sept. 5.

Miqati said in similar remarks that the “country is in great danger” and “the political authority is resolving each case on its own and dealing with each new crisis as it arises.”

“The scene that we saw last Wednesday was a scene of war,” he told An Nahar about al-Meqdad clan’s kidnapping of Syrians and a Turkish man in retaliation for the abduction of Hassan al-Meqdad by the Free Syrian Army in Damascus last week.

However, the issue “is now from the past and the airport road cannot be blocked again,” the prime minister said.

“The political forces have the willingness to end the incidents as soon as they erupt and prevent their aggravation,” he said, adding “had there been a real intention by some parties to ignite strife, then the last (incidents) in Lebanon in the past months” would have already set the country on fire.

The remarks of both Berri and Miqati came a day after the speaker criticized the prime minister for allegedly “not wanting to govern.”

He also said that followings Syria’s uprising, Miqati found himself in new circumstances that do not match his calculations.

But Miqati responded, saying: “Governing the country was never limited to the government.”

“As a partner, member of the government, and the head of the legislative authority in Lebanon, Berri is aware of the extent of the burden on my shoulders,” continued Miqati.

“I do not hesitate to take the right decision at the appropriate time,” he stressed.