Majority Mulls Ways to Obstruct Opposition’s Vote of Confidence Plan
The major parliamentary blocs that make-up the cabinet have held a consultative meeting on the possibility of the March 14 opposition coalition’s resort to a vote of confidence on Ministers Jebran Bassil and Nicolas Sehnaoui, As Safir daily reported Friday.
The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying the blocs reached a conclusion that the opposition would not succeed in bringing down Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet given that it is receiving Arab and international support.
Parliament will hold a three-day session next Tuesday to assess the government’s performance. The March 14 forces have vowed to scrutinize the cabinet and mainly Energy Minister Bassil and Telecommunications Minister Sehnaoui.
The conferees also agreed to bloc all means possible for the opposition to target the government, including not attending the last session on Thursday or abstaining from voting, As Safir said.
It quoted al-Mustaqbal opposition bloc sources as saying that any March 14 attempt to force the collapse of Miqati’s cabinet would fail given that Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, whose lawmakers play the balancing role in parliament, has continuously announced his support for the cabinet.
The opposition accuses Bassil of violating the laws regarding a $1.2 billion energy bill passed by parliament last year to boost the electricity sector.
The coalition is also criticizing Sehnaoui for rejecting to provide the Internal Security Forces with the so-called telecom data that allows security apparatuses to trace calls of suspects in assassination attempts against top officials.
The latest controversy erupted after snipers fired at Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea last week as he was walking in the garden of his fortified residence in Maarab.
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