Amid Hamadeh-Fadlallah Clash, Berri Defers Legislative Session to Mar. 21
Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned a legislative parliamentary session held on Thursday to March 21 after quorum was lost.
The loss of quorum prevented a vote on a draft law on reducing the prison year to nine months. The legal quorum requires the presence of at least 65 MPs, while only 64 lawmakers were present out of the 128 members of parliament.
Ahead of its suspension the session witnessed a verbal clash between March 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh and Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah.
Hamadeh asked parliament to observe a minute of silence “on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Syrian revolution,” drawing objections from the rival March 8 camp lawmakers.
The clash erupted when Fadlallah said “let him stand on one foot.”
Speaker Berri also rejected Hamadeh’s statement, saying it strayed off the session’s topic.
The parliament also failed to adopt two draft laws on transportation and schooling allowances – linked to a recent wage hike – after several MPs insisted they needed further discussions.
A panel was formed to look into the two draft laws, comprising Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, Labor Minister Salim Jreissati and the two MPs who submitted the draft laws, Ibrahim Kanaan and Nabil de Freij.
The parliament, however, approved several draft laws ahead of the session’s adjournment.
Among the most prominent decisions were authorizing government to borrow in foreign currency, appointing the graduates of the National Pedagogical Institute of Technical Training to posts in the Directorate General of Technical and Vocational Education, and appointing new judges and auditors to posts in the Audit Bureau.
Source: Naharnet
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