“Lebanon Debate”
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri anticipated the convening of the legislative session today, with a move aimed at containing the repercussions left by the dispute that broke out yesterday between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defense Minister Michel Mansi, against the backdrop of the latter’s comments on the general amnesty law and his desire to deliver a speech before the general assembly to present the position of the military establishment on the law.
The dispute escalated during the legislative session yesterday, after Salam asked the Minister of Defense not to deliver his speech, while Mansi insisted on his right to present his remarks, stressing that he was speaking from his position as Minister of Defense and conveying the point of view of the military establishment. The discussion between the two men developed into an intense debate, which reflected tension within the Parliament and led to confusion in the course of the session, in light of the insistence of a number of representatives on the necessity of listening to the intervention of the Minister of Defense.
In this context, Berri today called on Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defense Minister Michel Mansi to a meeting in his office, with the aim of removing all repercussions that followed the dispute, and cordoning off its tailspin before the start of the legislative session, allowing the discussion of the agenda to be completed away from any tension that might reflect on the quorum or on the process of approving the proposed laws.
The meeting was preceded by a coordination meeting held between the heads of government and the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Elias Bou Saab, and a member of the “Strong Republic” bloc, Representative George Adwan, before the start of the General Assembly session, within the framework of communications aimed at addressing the problem that emerged yesterday and securing the appropriate political atmosphere to complete the session.
This movement comes at a time when parliamentary and political attention is focused on the general amnesty law, which formed a main focus of controversy during yesterday’s session, especially in light of the differing positions on a number of its articles, most notably the observations that the military establishment wanted to make regarding the proposed formula.
