BEIRUT: The Cabinet is expected to examine a host of divisive topics outside its agenda, including the legality of civil marriages, during its weekly session set for Wednesday, ministerial sources said Tuesday.
The Cabinet, which usually meets every Thursday at the Grand Serail, will instead convene Wednesday due to Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s travel to Munich to attend an international conference on security.
There are some 50 items on the Cabinet agenda, including a proposal by Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb to sign an agreement to establish a private company with the state’s participation to upgrade Internet services. This item stirred a row among ministers when it was brought up for discussion two weeks ago.
However, there are divisive issues not included on the agenda that will be raised by some ministers for discussion. These include the row over the filling of Beirut Port’s fourth basin, the controversial issue of civil marriage, and a review of the mechanism adopted by the Cabinet in making its decisions, the sources said.
The Cabinet, which in addition to its executive powers is also exercising the president’s prerogatives during the vacuum in the presidency, has agreed on a mechanism that requires the approval of all 24 of its members on any key decision or decree. This mechanism has largely hindered the government’s work in view of differences among the ministers.
Another permanent item on the Cabinet agenda is the plight of the 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen still held hostage by ISIS and Nusra Front militants after being captured when the two groups briefly seized the northeastern town of Arsal in August, the sources said.
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said in a statement issued by his office Tuesday that he would raise the issue of civil marriage for discussion during the Cabinet session.
However, this does not mean Salam will be convinced of Machnouk’s proposal, especially as it is a thorny issue that requires the consent of religious authorities of all sects, the sources said.
Sources close to Machnouk said he hoped to find a legal formula to deal with civil marriages that would permit the Directorate General of Personal Status to issue certificates for people who have had civil marriages in Lebanon during the mandate of former Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who had signed a number of such marriages.
Machnouk came under fire by secular activists for saying that Lebanon cannot legally recognize non-religious unions due to the absence of official laws recognizing them.
Reagrding the dispute over the filling of the Beirut Port’s fourth basin, Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said: “The issue is not included on the agenda. But if it was raised, I have answers, documented by minutes, to everything from the time I received this file until the end of my meetings with the port administration, unions and a technical committee.”
Truck drivers Tuesday suspended an open-ended strike that disrupted work at Beirut Port after Salam promised to find a solution to the row over the filling of the fourth basin in agreement with all the parties.
The decision by port authorities to resume work on the fourth basin prompted a syndicate of truck drivers to launch an open-ended strike Monday in a bid to pressure the government into permanently halting the controversial project that critics say could jeopardize 1,500 jobs.
The project is mostly opposed by Christian parties, including rivals the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.
When the current mechanism of the Cabinet’s work is brought up for discussion, some ministers will propose a return to legal and constitutional regulations with the adoption of voting as a means to decide on key issues, the sources said.
However, sources close to Salam said the premier does not want to cause a new split within the Cabinet before sounding out the views of all ministers and obtaining their approval of the voting procedure.
But such approval is not attainable because some ministers, including the Kataeb Party ministers, oppose the voting procedure.
With regard to the kidnapped soldiers, the ministerial sources said the Cabinet did not have any new information about the case, but stressed that efforts were secretly underway to secure their release.
The absence of threats from the militants to kill the hostages probably pointed to the seriousness of the negotiations to secure the hostages’ release, the sources said.
No comments:
Post a Comment