Al-Mustaqbal Says Aoun Lost on 3 Fronts, Blames him for Adjournment of Legislative Session
The al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc stressed on Friday that Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun lost on three fronts when the March 14 lawmakers withdrew from a parliamentary session the day before.
Al-Mustaqbal sources told An Nahar that Aoun lost Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas, failed to win support for a $5.9 billion cabinet spending bill, and witnessed the removal of the Value Added Tax on red and green diesel, a move rejected by Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.
Nahhas, who is loyal to Aoun, resigned after he refused to sign a controversial transportation allowance decree for being “illegal.” Media reports said that the MP had struck a deal to submit Nahhas’ resignation to Premier Najib Miqati in return for garnering a majority support inside parliament for a draft law proposed by a member of his bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan to legalize the allowance.
However, the draft law wasn’t discussed at parliament after the March 14 MPs withdrew from the session to protest a March 8 demand to clinch a legislative vote on the spending bill, saying they would not support it if the parliament fails to legalize $11 billion in extra-budgetary spending made from 2006 to 2009 by the governments of former PMs Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri.
Also Thursday, parliament lifted the Value Added Tax on red and greed diesel, a move rejected by Bassil, who is Aoun’s son-in-law.
The sources wondered what the stance of Aoun was on Speaker Nabih Berri’s proposal to form a parliamentary committee to study the spending made by previous governments and coming up with a solution ahead of a parliamentary session on March 5.
According to al-Liwaa daily, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is mediating between Berri and Saniora, who is currently the head of al-Mustaqbal bloc, to resolve the controversy on the spending and come up with a comprehensive settlement to the issue.
Sources close to Saniora also told An Nahar that negotiations were carried out between the March 8 and 14 forces for three days before the parliamentary session to settle the $5.9 billion and $11 billion spending.
But when Berri proposed to Aoun a draft-law suggested by Saniora, the Change and Reform bloc leader rejected it, they said, blaming Aoun for the withdrawal of the March 14 MPs from the session and its adjournment to March 5.
Saniora backed a proposal by Berri to form the parliamentary committee that would seek to find a solution before the next legislative session, the sources added.
12 years
Ya General! kasser kouyoud el kabbalit idaik w hkom ma3 yalle tajaro bi dammak, inte el dene w majed el dine 3aynaik, fik el arez 3enwen shamikh mada el azman.
12 years
I guess you guys are M8 since all the votes against you. I have to admit, M14 are good in rigging results.
12 years
"He declared "The Liberation War" against the Syrian Occupation on the 14th of March 1989" (Wikipedia,p.1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Aoun)
We are March 14 but the true ones. ;)
12 years
Anyone who supports Aoun is a fool.
12 years
what real leb says is very deep.;))
12 years
typical.. we are used to the demented general losing every battle.. all he cares about is getting rich and the idiot illiterate christians vote for him
12 years
he gave scholarships to thousands of lebanese students from all sects, never asked for the money back, AUB students for example were all paid for by hariri one way or another in the late 80's and 90's and his institutions hires lebanese from all sects, do you see any christian or armenian on al manar tv? let alone suni. We arabs, lebanese love to bite the hand that feeds. We go to america begging them for a green card and then start cussing america for every disease we have (just to give you an example).
12 years
rudes, This is not a dating site.. lol
12 years
Let Al Mustaqbal count their gains, which are only limited to the billions of US dollars that they got from fleecing the decent Lebanese and Lebanon's coffers. In a country that respects its citizens, such gains are guaranteed to land these obvious winners in jail pending their hanging.
12 years
what supporters in tripoli/akkar are you talking about lol?? any suni who is a syrian ally is politicaly screwed, miqati will have to create an alliance with the mustaqbal movement in the next elections. The regime change in syria in the future is the most serious blow to all the hizbala illusive efforts of coup and canceling out the suni power in lebanon. Unless you do not see the biblical changes in the Arab world around us. This government is really living on lifelines. At the end of the day hizbala and mustaqbal will reach a truce (paid for by more erosion of christian power) and I wouldnt be suprised one bit if they join another hariri government. This is lebanon the country of suprises, lack of principles and anything goes.
12 years
This corrupt Saniora and berri are talking because they want to devour what's left of the money of the tax payers. Burn them both and let's live in peace.
So know corrupted will not go to jail, Capitalist will make more money and working class will have no legal support for her transportation fees. Yes, I agree Future won and Aoun lost