Lebanon political crisis deepens
Now Lebanon/August 27/15
BEIRUT – The political paralysis gripping Lebanon has deepened after the Free Patriotic Movement and its ally Hezbollah boycotted the latest session of the government, which has been embattled by a populist movement criticizing its handling of the country’s worsening garbage problem. Following a night of frenzied political efforts to hammer out an agreement on the government’s voting process, Hezbollah and the FPM as well as its smaller Christian allies Tashnaq and Marada announced they would not join the Thursday session set to discuss the country’s waste crisis and the payment of public sector wages. Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk—a member of the Future Movement that opposes Hezbollah and the FPM—called the boycott an “escalatory position,” while Amal Movement minister Ali Hassan Khalil said the situation “cannot return to normal” until all the cabinet’s parties returned. Despite the boycott, the remaining ministers, including those from Hezbollah’s close ally the Amal Movement, agreed on a series of decrees during the four-hour session headed by embattled Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
One of the pressing issues addressed by the cabinet was the matter of securing funds to pay government employees, after a number of politicians warned that the state would not be able to hand out salaries starting from September due to budget shortages in the Finance Ministry.
Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced in a press conference following the government’s meeting that ministers had agreed on a mechanism to secure funds for public sector employees, averting yet another crisis in the country that has been wracked by the state’s failure to manage the processing of trash, which on numerous occasions has gone uncollected in the capital. He also said that Salam and the ministers discussed potential solution to the waste crisis, after the cabinet on Tuesday agreed to create a landfill in Akkar, a proposal that has already garnered considerable opposition. The waste crisis has sparked the #YouStink grassroots movement—which is now calling for the government’s resignation—as well as several spin-off groups, all of which are preparing for a large rally Saturday in Downtown Beirut expected to attract tens of thousands of supporters.
FPM raises specter of rewriting constitution.
The pressure on the government over the waste management issue has been coupled by the FPM’s increasingly strident calls for Salam to accede to its demands regarding the working of the cabinet. Michel Aoun’s party insists the government can only pass decrees with a unanimous vote since there is no president, while also contending that it can set items on the cabinet’s agenda, which constitutionally is the exclusive prerogative of the prime minister or president of the republic.
On Tuesday the FPM walked out of the cabinet session before upping the ante with its Thursday boycott as well a call for its supporters to join the mass protests planned Saturday. Despite its boycott, the FPM has not moved toward resigning from the government, with party MP Nabil Nicolas telling Al-Fajr Radio on Thursday morning that, for the time being, the party would not achieve anything with a withdrawal.
The MP, however, notched his party’s rhetoric up with a startling comment that a rewriting of Lebanon’s constitution might be needed.
“[There must be] either recognition of all actors in the country or [we must all] go to a [constitutive conference].”Lebanese commentators in recent weeks have speculated that the FPM’s top ally, Hezbollah, has been seeking a new system in the country to replace the current half-half split of shares between the Muslim and Christian sects with a tripartite division between Christians, Shiites and Sunnis.
Lebanese Govt. Refers Waste Management File to Municipalities, Continues to Search for Landfill
Naharnet/August 27/15/The cabinet agreed on Thursday to refer the trash disposal file to municipalities during a “productive” session that witnessed the boycott of ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah, and their allies. The government decided during the meeting that lasted over three hours to refer the waste management issue to municipalities that will agree to handle it. Ministers after the meeting deemed it “productive”, while expressing hopes that the boycotting officials would return for future sessions. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said after the meeting that concerned waste collection companies have been ordered to collect the garbage that has been piling on the streets across the country. The trash will be collected at landfills that will “soon” be properly equipped to contain them, he explained to reporters without indicating the location of these dumps.
Addressing the weekend’s violence that erupted during civil society protests against the waste crisis and political deadlock in the country, Jreij emphasized the cabinet’s keenness on freedom of expression and holding demonstrations. “Investigations will continue to uncover protesters and security forces members who resorted to violence during the rallies,” he stressed.
The cabinet also approved dedicating funds to finance the salaries of public sector employees. Following the session, Speaker Nabih Berri contacted Prime Minister Tammam Salam, urging him to take some time before calling a new cabinet session to “allow consultations to reach solutions that guarantee the attendance of all parties.” A new session has not been scheduled yet. Hizbullah, FPM and Tashnag ministers walked out on Tuesday of a cabinet session meant to discuss the worsening garbage crisis. They also received the backing of the Marada Movement whose minister had not attended the session for being abroad.
It was not clear however what compelled the FPM and Hizbullah to take the decision of boycott. In a statement Tuesday, Hizbullah said the garbage crisis reflected the “endemic and accumulated corruption of the past two decades” and policies that only serve “personal and political interests at the expense of citizens.” It said holding peaceful protests was a legitimate right. The protesters say they are fed up with leaders they accuse of caring only about lining their own pockets and a system they say ensures incessant bickering and paralysis. They contend the entire trash crisis is about which politicians get the bigger cut from waste management contracts.
FPM chief MP Michel Aoun is scheduled to hold a press conference to address the latest developments, including the passing of decrees in the absence of the boycotting ministers.
Local dailies said that around 70 decrees, which had been passed without the signatures of the FPM and its allies, would be presented to them for signature under an initiative made by Berri. The FPM has been claiming that the signature of only 18 ministers violated the cabinet’s working mechanism in the absence of a president.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014.
