Member of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Naji Gharios tol Al-Manar Website that the electricity bill would be adopted during Thursday’s Parliament meeting
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MP Naji Gharios to Al-Manar Website: We Will Not Allow UNSC to Humiliate Us! |
Member of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Naji Gharios said that the electricity bill would be adopted during Thursday’s Parliament meeting, and hinted the plan could be unanimously endorsed, in case the opposition accepted the final formula. He noted that consensus was reached at the end of the joint parliamentary committees’ session, based on the efforts of Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Manar Website, MP Gharios denied the presence of any ‘personal conflict’ between his Free Patriotic Movement and the premier. He explained that the FPM did not enter government to have power, but was seeking to change the current political approach and establish a new logic in politics, to be entitled change and reform. He predicted that his political bloc would have to face many obstacles and difficulties before reaching such end.
While revealing that the Change and Reform bloc would fight to approve the Social Security for all Lebanese without exception, Gharios did not see in the issue related to financing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon any threat in the face of the government. He found strange claims that Lebanon would face some sanctions in case it did not abide by the financing process, and called the United Nations Security Council to urge the Israeli enemy to apply its resolutions before anything else. “What’s applicable for our PM must be also applicable for the Israeli PM,” he declared.
Gharios said that Friday’s Maronite meeting was still in place. He ruled out that the meeting would fail in light of the campaign launched against Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. He stressed that the concerns expressed by the patriarch in France were true, and this what he proved to the French officials with solid facts.
MIQATI BACKED BASSIL’S PLAN
MP Naji Gharios told Al-Manar Website that the joint parliamentary committees’ meeting, which was held on Wednesday, was the third of its kind to discuss the electricity bill. He noted that, nevertheless, it was the first to be attended by PM Najib Miqati who backed the proposal made by Energy Minister Gebran Bassil in full and approved at the same time the additions proposed by some lawmaker, even though they were not necessary.
Gharios recalled that the whole issue started in the parliamentary session, which was held prior to the Eid al-Fitr holidays. “At the time, we discussed the bill proposed by General Michel Aoun, but they called to withdraw it, perhaps because they didn’t want to approve a bill signed by MP Aoun. They proposed that the same proposal be submitted by the government with some amendments, and this is exactly what happened,” he said. “The bill was raised again last week, and the joint parliamentary committees deeply discussed it throughout three consecutive sessions. The premier attended only the third meeting in which he listen to the same remarks raised during the two previous sessions by the same lawmakers,” he added.
CONSENSUS POSSIBLE OPTION
MP Gharios expressed belief the majority of the lawmakers would vote in the interest of the bill in its last form. He hinted this formula could be unanimously adopted or, in the worst case scenario, be approved by the parliamentary majority. He noted that the last formula should satisfy all political blocs, as it reflected a consensus reached thanks to efforts made by Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Najib Miqati. He said that the last word remains in the hands of the Parliament’s General Assembly.
Gharios denied the Progressive Socialist Party had any reservations over the final proposal. He noted that all the remarks expressed by the PSP during the discussion stage were accepted, and revealed that the National Struggle Front lawmakers sought during Wednesday’s session to encourage all factions to reach consensus over the bill.
WHY DID WE ENTER GOVERNMENT?
Answering a question about the relationship between the Change and Reform bloc at one side and Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the other, MP Naji Gharios stressed there was nothing personal against the premier. He even rejected claims of incompatibility between both sides. He explained that the FPM did not enter the government to get power, but, instead, to establish a new approach in politics and to remove the current logic based on sharing quotas. He highlighted that the Change and Reform bloc wants from its participation in the government to achieve change. “Otherwise, our portion in the government would have no value at all,” he said.
Gharios pointed to the presence of a number of bills awaiting the government during the upcoming stage. He noted that approving social security for all Lebanese without exception seems to be the most sensitive in this regard. He found strange how some Lebanese could reject such plan, wondering whether it was impossible to collect some one billion dollars to guarantee social security for all Lebanese, one of their most basic rights.
STL FINANCING DOESN’T THREATEN GOV’T
MP Gharios rejected claims that Miqati’s government was threatened by the clause related to financing the so-called Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He undermined all claims of possible sanctions against Lebanon in case it did not finance the international tribunal, and therefore did not abide by the international resolutions. He explained that the Israeli enemy, for instance, has never applied any of the resolutions issued by the UNSC. “I will not accept that the UNSC assails my PM and adopts the logic of conditions with him.”
Gharis highlighted that the Security Council, in case it decided to impose laws on the PM, to start by imposing the implementation of its previous resolutions on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet, he said that the final decision over possibly financing the STL remains in the hands of the cabinet as a whole, with complete respect to the PM and his own positions.
RAHI’S HEART BIG…
To conclude, MP Gharios pointed to the Christian meeting expected in Bkerke next Friday, and said that this meeting was still in place, ruling out the possibility of obstructing this meeting despite the campaign recently launched against Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. He noted that Rahi has a big heart and that he affords all critics. He stressed that the patriarch’s project was deeper than all campaigns, given that it is the project of protecting all people in the region, and especially the Christians who’re facing displacement.
Gharios said that the patriarch has expressed his frank concerns to the French officials during his recent trip to France with facts related to the fate of Christians in Iraq, Palestine and Egypt. He noted that the patriarch believes that his mission is to safeguard the Christians of the East as a whole, not only Lebanon.
Gharios also noted that the Christian leaders would discuss during their Friday’s meeting the possible electoral laws, while expecting that they would basically agree on adopting the proportionality law. He said that this issue would be discussed at the Christian level but also with other sects to reach a common point.
