“Lebanon Debate”
Since yesterday’s morning session in the House of Representatives, it seemed that excluding the opinion of the Minister of Defense, Major General Michel Mansi, and therefore the opinion of the Lebanese Army from the session would not pass.
The first signal was urgent news from parliamentary circles: “If the problem of the Prime Minister preventing the Minister of Defense from entering the session and expressing his opinion regarding the amnesty law is not resolved, then things will not go well in the evening session.”
The time separating the morning and evening sessions constituted a space for resolution. Contacts intensified, but did not lead to results, due to the Prime Minister’s adherence to his position.
When the amnesty law was presented in the evening session, MP Ibrahim Kanaan asked to speak and was the first to object, saying, “We know the sensitivity of the issue for the army, so we demand to listen to the opinion of the Minister of Defense, who represents the army leadership. The government and its head must take the matter into consideration and resolve the issue in the required manner, and listen to the opinion of the Minister of Defense on an issue of this sensitivity.”
The intensity of the discussions increased. Representative Gebran Bassil expressed his objection to not listening to the opinion of the Minister of Defense, threatening to withdraw from the session. Representative Firas Hamdan nervously defended the Prime Minister, and Representative Charbel Maroun responded to him, “Zandak straps.” Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Elias Bou Saab, tried to reach a solution. He stressed that the position of the minister and the army is necessary because nothing new is being discussed other than what was decided by the committees. Salam did not respond.
Representative Alan Aoun expressed his support for the presence of the Minister of Defense, and the need to listen to the opinion of the Lebanese Army. Major General Jamil Al-Sayyid supported the issue, and so did MP Salim Aoun, who asked, “What’s stopping the Minister of Defense from coming?”
Berri wanted to put the proposal to a vote, but Kanaan objected and got up from his seat, addressing Berri, saying, “No, Mr. President, things are not like this.” Kanaan withdrew from the session.
Representatives of the Movement and Loyalty to the Resistance also withdrew from the session, as did independent representatives, including Nima Afram and Michel Daher.
Lost quorum. The amnesty did not pass, and attempts at a solution intensified, which will continue in today’s session.
