Saniora-Moussawi Verbal Clash as Parliament Convenes to Assess Govt. Performance

A parliamentary session to assess the performance of the government on a number of issues began on Thursday in Nejmeh Square, in light of the political parties failure to devise a new voting system that will rule the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said at the opening of the session: “We are committed to stage the parliamentary elections and reject all forms of vacuum.”

Referring to Lebanon's relations with Arab countries, he said: “During the three previous months, there were massive efforts to reform our relations with Arab countries.

He stressed that the cabinet is “determined to pursue the achievements in the government and restore confidence. We are ready to answer your questions.”

MP Wael Abou Faour who spoke standing up from his designated place said: “Consensus must be the major title to agree on a new law. I hope we are not pushed into the taboo.”

For his part MP Hassan Fadlallah stressed the need to combat what he described as the “phenomenon of smuggling which causes losses worth between $500 to $700 million.”

He pointed out saying that the “State is being robbed. The government does not fear the parliament's accountability nor do the MPs fear the people's accountability.”

He concluded and called for a proportional representation electoral system.

Focusing on the problematic electricity issue, MP Robert Ghanem urged the government to send a specialized inspection team to two Turkish vessels (Fatmagül Sultan and Orhan Bey) providing Lebanon with electricity, to verify if this company carried out its commitments.

MP and former PM Najib Miqati urged the formation of a “committee to oversee the parliamentary elections before the constitutional deadlines.”

He called on the government to either review an electoral law that was suggested by his government when he was in office, or to study a new one."

“Lebanon's experience as for the electricity file was a bad one, we hope that the 2012 experience will not be repeated,” said MP Akram Shehayyeb.

“We are en route to a crisis in 2018 regarding waste management file,” he said, adding “that the agriculture sector is facing important difficulties due to smuggling."

MP Antoine Zahra touched on the long-stalled salary scale file, he said: “It would be wrongful to approve a state budget without considering the wage scale file.”

MP Oqab Saqr of al-Mustaqbal bloc meanwhile said that "the crisis of blocking the electoral law is similar to the (2014-2016) crisis of blocking the election of the president."

"We reject extension and we reject parliamentary vacuum," he stressed.

Saqr lamented that "there is a search for an electoral law tailored to fit the interests of parties and sects, and this is the truth."

Turning to the issue of corruption, Saqr added: "We have made an anti-corruption initiative and lifted the political cover off (ex-OGERO chief) Abdul Menhem Youssef. Let the judiciary rule in his case and we call on all political forces to lift the cover off corrupt employees."

Commenting on the latest security incidents in the country, Saqr called on the government to "work on a plan to remove weapons from cities, starting by Greater Beirut."

He also warned that the Hizbullah-linked Resistance Brigades have "undermined the image of the state."

The final minutes of the session witnessed a verbal clash between Hizbullah MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi and the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora.

The dispute erupted when Saniora urged an end to "rumors and the huge quantity of lies" about the issue of the so-called "11 billion dollars."

Saniora noted that all expenditure during his government's tenure "is documented in the Finance Ministry's records."

"Someone like you is a liar!" Moussawi said in response, but Saniora refused to comment on the insult and noted that he did not accuse Moussawi of being a liar in his remarks and that he was talking in general about the presence of "a huge amount of lies."

Al-Jadeed television said a meeting was held between Speaker Nabih Berri, PM Hariri, Saniora and Moussawi after the session and that the dispute between the two MPs was resolved.

The parliament is scheduled to meet again on Friday to continue questioning the government's progress.