The Lebanese caretaker government convened on Monday morning in order to study and approve a brief agenda of 25 socioeconomic items amid the political opposition of the Free Patriotic Movement.
The Free Patriotic Movement had voiced objection to the ministerial session, considering that the caretaker government cannot convene amid the presidential vacuum.
The cabinet session kicked off at the Grand Serail under the chairmanship of Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, after quorum was secured with the participation of 16 ministers, including Social Affairs Ministers Hector Hajjar and Industry Minister Georges Bouchikian, our correspondent reported on Monday.
Hajjar and Bouchikian in addition to seven other ministers who are affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement issued late Sunday a joint statement that rejected Mikati’s call for a session.
Mikati stressed that he would not have convened the cabinet in an extraordinary session if it weren’t for the pressing medical file and the rights of the cancer and dialysis patients.
“If some are hiding behind the constitution and coexistence, they cannot be achieved through people’s death,” he said at the beginning of the cabinet session.
“We have reached a point where we can no more spend on cancer and dialysis patients,” he deplored. “Do some want us to commit a mass murder against these patients?” he asked.
“We will continue to assume our responsibility regardless of the difficulties,” he vowed, renewing calls to speed up the election of a president of the republic.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
