Berri keeps tight rein on criticism as MPs weigh in on new government
Swift, orderly debate breaks with recent history

Sabine Darrous and Alia Ibrahim
Daily Star staff

Tuesday’s opening session of Parliament’s two-day debate of the Cabinet’s policy statement was swift and orderly, with Speaker Nabih Berri keeping a tight rein on MPs critical of the new government team.
The largest parliamentary blocs designated only one MP to speak on their behalf, contravening the recent practice of allowing all MPs to weigh in.
Legislators are expected to wrap up the session on Wednesday morning and vote confidence in Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s new government, which observers expect will pick up around 75-80 yes votes, with perhaps 20 MPs abstaining.
Hariri began the morning session by reading the government’s policy statement, which emphasized the Iraqi crisis and other regional developments as much as local political and economic issues.
In his remarks, Hariri called for the immediate withdrawal of “occupying forces” from Iraq, and stressed the “legitimate Syrian military presence in Lebanon.”
Zahle MP Nicolas Fattoush’s decision to grant the new government his vote of confidence was an unusual step for an MP who has been a staunch critic of Hariri.
In his speech, Fattoush said he would vote confidence because Hariri “was being targeted.”
Fattoush’s stance was also interpreted as reflecting satisfaction with the appointment of his ally, Zahle MP Elie Skaff, to head the Industry Ministry.
However, Fattoush ended his speech by saying that Berri had “asked me to hit the brakes,” indicating the speaker’s role in keeping criticism within bounds.
Earlier this year, Fattoush faced the possibility that his parliamentary immunity would be lifted after he harshly criticized the judiciary. However, the MP avoided prosecution with the help of senior officials, mainly the speaker.
But Fattoush also called on Justice Minister Bahij Tabbara to ban any judge from meeting with high-ranking officials unless he was present, in reference to political interference in judicial affairs.
Fattoush brought down the house when he borrowed a page from the book of former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said Sahhaf and used the Arabic term uluj (leaches or infidels) to describe the security organizations that interfere in the judiciary.
For his part, Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr’s statement called on the government to “dissolve itself immediately” so that a new government that really represented the people could be formed.
Abi Nasr, who said that this government “was parachuted in,” said he believed that the new Cabinet was not a “Syrian-made one,” but rather would be a burden on Damascus.
Opposition politicians and others have criticized the powers that be for having failed to bring in a government with members close to Bkirki, after the Maronite patriarch took stands supportive of Damascus in recent months.
Abi Nasr, who is close to Bkirki, called the government “a stab in the back” for the patriarch and also urged the authorities to release the imprisoned leader of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, to achieve “true national consensus.”
He also said the new government must conduct “serious negotiations” with Syria to amend the 1991 Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination Agreement and create new bases for a strategic bilateral relationship.
Metn MP and opposition heavyweight Nassib Lahoud criticized the current and former governments of Hariri, saying he would vote no confidence.
Lahoud predicted that the government would be a burden on Syria as much as on Lebanon and reiterated his call for adjusting bilateral relations based on the Taif Accord.
Lahoud said the regional situation required a new system of “deep, confident and permanent” Lebanese-Syrian ties to be built, to confront the coming challenges.
Beirut MP Ghattas Khoury, on behalf of Hariri’s Dignity bloc, expressed his group’s dissatisfaction with Beirut’s lack of representation, but asserted its support for the new Cabinet to confront regional challenges.
On behalf of the Tripoli bloc,  MP Mohammed Kabbara said he would vote no confidence, questioning the Cabinet’s ability to meet regional challenges.
Hizbullah’s Mohammed Raad, a Nabatieh MP, said that his party’s 12-member parliamentary bloc would abstain from voting, but pledged full support to the government.
In the evening session, Akkar MP Mikhail Daher criticized a government reshuffle that he said was not based on the failures or successes of ministers, saying the authorities had dealt with ministers as if they were state employees, transferring them from one department to another based on whim.
Daher questioned the potential of the new team, which has about two-thirds of the previous Cabinet’s members, predicting that it would be unable to settle disputes such as pending appointments to the diplomatic corps, the Civil Defense, and the National Social Security Fund.
He complained that his electoral constituency, made up of Akkar, Dinnieh, and Bsharri and represented by 11 MPs, fielded only Akkar’s Issam Fares, serving as deputy prime minister.
“Why does Metn, which is represented by only eight MPs, receive three ministries (Michel
Samaha, Elias Murr and Sebouh Hovnanian) in addition to the post of the presidency, and the South represented by seven Ministers?” he asked.
Daher also invited Hariri to “miss a weekend in Faqra” and get closer to the people by visiting Akkar.
“I will not give confidence to this Cabinet, which is only a continuation of a dead government,” he added.
Bsharri MP Gebran Tawq gave the new government “credit for achieving a record in that the majority of the Lebanese reject it.”
Tawq said that following the Maronite patriarch’s statement regarding the war in Iraq, the public expected that reform and improved political representation might be at hand.
“But this government came to take us a few steps backward, compelling people to oppose, and killing every hope people had,” he said, announcing that he would withhold confidence.
Tyre MP Ali Khalil, speaking on behalf of Berri’s Resistance and Development parliamentary bloc, said regional challenges compel the Lebanese to “overcome their differences regarding the new government.”
He also accused the former government of openly violating the Constitution.

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