Harb Says Miqati to Suffer as State Would Turn into Dictatorship
March 14 MP Butros Harb lamented on Thursday that the state would turn into a dictatorship during the tenure of the new government but wished Premier Najib Miqati success despite becoming a captive of the parliamentary majority.
“You will suffer during every cabinet session and during the discussion of every issue and you will regret accepting to become a captive of (a government) capable of imposing its view on you,” he told Miqati. “The country will pay the price because it will turn into a dictatorship.”
He described the Hizbullah-led parliamentary majority which was a minority in former Premier Saad Hariri’s cabinet as “greedy” that is not pleased by anything.
“Let God be with you because you will be the captive of the parliamentary majority,” the lawmaker told Miqati during the fifth session of discussions of the cabinet’s policy statement.
He said he was embarrassed by the fact that he would withhold his confidence from the cabinet because it includes friends. “But the issue is linked to the future of Lebanon and its civil peace.”
The lawmaker stressed, however, that one side can’t remain in power for eternity. Rotation of power is the essence of democratic life, he said.
While expressing hope that the allegedly “harmonious” cabinet would be capable of implementing a single agenda, Harb said: “There is no sign that you are capable of running the people’s lives” with such an agenda.
“We don’t accept that Lebanon turns into a party in the Arab conflicts,” he said in reference to Syria.
Harb said he was surprised by the removal of “Lebanon’s independence” from the clause on Syrian-Lebanese relations in the policy statement. He also expressed surprise at the removal of “the control of the border between Lebanon and Syria” from the statement.
But turning to his March 8 foes, he said: “Let us work together to build national unity and stop trading accusations.”
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