BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam hit back at the Free Patriotic Movement after sources said FPM ministers were considering boycotting Friday’s Cabinet meeting, claiming the premier had breached the Constitution.
“It is my duty, and within my constitutional power, to call a Cabinet meeting, and I set the agenda as stipulated in Article 62 of the Constitution,” Salam said in remarks published Friday.
Sources in MP Michel Aoun’s FPM told The Daily Star that the FPM’s two ministers, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, were considering boycotting the Cabinet session after Salam had refused to inform them of its agenda, claiming that the Constitution stipulates that he do so.
Salam expressed concerns that “some political parties likely have the intention to disrupt the work of the government.” He did not name them.
“Nevertheless, I'm open to talks with Cabinet ministers and political parties on a mechanism of action while sticking to the powers granted to me by the Constitution,” Salam told As-Safir.
Salam also clarified his stance on the ongoing debate on a Cabinet mechanism of action under a presidential vacuum.
“This is a precedent that had not occurred in any comprehensive, coalition government,” he said.
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