The Lebanese government is scheduled to convene this Thursday to approve its policy statement, based on which it would receive Parliament’s vote of confidence.
A drafting committee concluded its three-day meetings on Wednesday, with Information Minister Jamal Jarrah stating that the final review of the ministerial statement was completed after introducing minor changes “without affecting the essence.”
Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to call for a parliamentary session on Tuesday or Wednesday to hear the policy statement ahead of a vote of confidence. Then, the government’s commitment to the dissociation policy and its ability to keep Lebanon away from regional conflicts, would be put under scrutiny.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a number of ministers, who were part of the drafting committee, warned that the new government’s failure to commit to the dissociation policy would “push the country into the game of Arab and international axes and would have dire consequences on national interests.”
In this regard, sources quoted Prime Minister Saad Hariri as saying: “No one expresses the opinion of the government except for its head.”
Commenting on Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s recent statements about the normalization of relations with the Syrian regime, he said that they reflected only Bassil’s opinion as the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and not as a minister.
“I did not talk to him before he issued such statements,” Hariri was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan took office on Wednesday, pledging to “prove the woman’s ability to assume an exceptional portfolio.”
Her remarks came during the handover ceremony from her predecessor, Nohad al-Mashnouq, who had been in the post for five years.
