FPM Accuses Salam of Usurping President’s Jurisdiction/Mustaqbal: Some ‘nfiltration of the Demos A Message of Intimidation/Hizbullah: End The Waste Disposal ‘Farce

Mustaqbal Says Some ‘Infiltrated’ Peaceful Demos to Send ‘Message of Intimidation’
Naharnet/August 25/15/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc charged Tuesday that some political parties tried to hijack Sunday’s civil society protest to send a “message of intimidation” to al-Mustaqbal movement and its allies. “Freedom of expression is a legitimate right for all Lebanese which is protected by the Constitution … but this right must be practiced while abiding by the laws,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. It acknowledged that “the peaceful demos that were called for by civil society activists and groups to demand a solution to the garbage crisis are in principle legitimate and justified, especially that the trash problem has aggravated due to the government’s shortcomings in addressing this vital issue.”But Mustaqbal warned that “this right to peaceful expression was quickly exploited” by “groups pushed by political and partisan agendas that resorted to violent methods to veer the democratic and peaceful expression off its course and drag the country into the ‘well-known unknown.’”It cautioned that the said political parties are seeking to “topple the political system and obstruct the work of government and parliament and undermine the last functioning constitutional institutions.”Accordingly, the bloc described the alleged “exploitation” attempt as a “message of intimidation” from those who “were behind these violations.”Throwing its “full support” behind the government and highlighting “the need that it continues to shoulder its responsibilities” amid the presidential vacuum, Mustaqbal noted that the “real solution for ending Lebanon’s problems” would be “the speedy election of a president.”Earlier on Tuesday, the cabinet ended an acrimonious meeting with no solution to the unprecedented trash crisis that has sparked violent protests and calls for the government’s resignation. The cabinet meeting came as people continued to gather in central Beirut for demonstrations that began over a trash crisis but evolved into an outlet for deep-seated frustrations over government impotence. Some organizers of Sunday’s demo at Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square had blamed “thugs sent by political parties” for the eruption of violence. More than 100 protesters and policemen were injured in fierce clashes on Saturday and Sunday.

Change and Reform Accuses Salam of Usurping President’s Jurisdiction on Decrees
Naharnet/August 25/15/The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Tammam Salam of infringing on the Christian president’s jurisdiction in the issuance of so-called presidential decrees, hours after the bloc’s ministers and their Hizbullah allies walked out of a tense cabinet session. “The decrees fall under the jurisdiction of the president and it is the only jurisdiction left for the president (after the Taef Accord) and the premier is infringing on it,” Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said after the bloc’s weekly meeting. Even “normal decrees require the signatures of the 24 ministers or all the ministerial blocs in the event of a presidential vacuum and we won’t accept the usurpation of the president’s last remaining jurisdiction,” Bassil stressed.He noted that consensus in the cabinet is a “constitutional stipulation” amid a presidential vacuum. “Anything else would be an attempt to undermine partnership,” the FM warned. Turning to the unprecedented waste management crisis, Bassil noted that “it would’ve been useful had we exerted more efforts in 2010, together with the people, to avoid this fabricated garbage crisis.” He pointed out that the crisis is being “exploited politically” with the aim of pressuring the Free Patriotic Movement. “Developing Akkar to exploit it in the waste management issue is an attempt to underestimate people’s intelligence,” he said. Addressing civil society protesters who have been demonstrating against the government for weeks now over the trash problem, Bassil said that “launching corruption accusations against everyone does not benefit those demanding an end to corruption,” noting that the FPM had exerted efforts over the past years to avoid the current garbage crisis. During an extraordinary cabinet session earlier in the day, the cabinet agreed to annul the results of the waste management tender that were announced on Monday, after they were rejected by both activists and parties represented in the government. The government also agreed to dedicate 100 million dollars to set up a temporary dump in the impoverished northern region of Akkar. The dump will only be established for three years. The funds will also be used for development projects in the area. The waste management bids will be referred once again to the concerned ministerial committee, said Information Minister Ramzi Jreij after the session. A number of politicians had voiced their rejection of the bids due to their “high prices.”

Hizbullah Demands End to Waste Disposal ‘Farce,’ Calls for ‘Reasonable’ Solutions
Naharnet/August 25/15/Hizbullah rejected on Tuesday the bids to tackle the waste management crisis, deeming the proposed prices as a “scandal.”It said in a statement: “We call an end for the farce of the negative consequences of the crisis and demand reasonable solutions that would tackle the transitional phase ahead of reaching the strategic plan.”“The waste crisis clearly indicates who is responsible for it,” added the party. “The size of the environmental and social disaster was demonstrated by the popular explosion,” it said in reference to weekend protests led by the You Stink civil society campaign. “The trash crisis is one of the signs of the accumulating corruption, which would not have reached such a level had a proposal on the issue, made in 1997, been adopted,” said Hizbullah without elaborating. Lebanon was plunged in a trash disposal crisis after the closure of the Naameh landfill in July. The landfill was shut without the establishment of an alternative, resulting in the overflowing of waste at dumpsters throughout the country as the cabinet struggled to find a permanent solution to the problem. The cabinet agreed on Tuesday to dedicate 100 million dollars to set up a temporary dump in the northern region of Akkar. Tenders for the waste management were announced on Monday, but they were rejected by a number of officials, who slammed their high prices. The cabinet later canceled the bids in favor of setting up the Akkar dump.