Berri: Parliamentary Committees Will Convene on Time

Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that the meeting of the parliamentary subcommittees will be held on time and that boycotting the sessions for security reasons is a consideration that affects everyone.

Berri said, if security reasons compel some parties to boycott the sessions, these considerations affect everyone and are not limited to one team, the As Safir daily said Wednesday.

The speaker was referring to the decision of the opposition March 14 alliance to boycott parliamentary activities for security reasons following the recent assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.

On the parliamentary plenary session which Berri intends to hold on November 7 and 8, the speaker noted that he will take the final decision on the matter in the upcoming days.

He stressed that if a political group does not attend the session, then he will not convene it.

Sources from the Development and Liberation bloc told al-Joumhouria daily Wednesday that “all arguments of the March 14 camp to boycott the parliamentary committees sessions are nothing but a mean to evade the parliamentary electoral law.”

On Monday, deputy Speaker MP Farid Makari said that he would not call for a meeting of the parliamentary subcommittee, citing the risk of assassination that “some March 14 MPs” were facing.

The March 14 camp accuses the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Miqati of failing to ensure stability and security and is thus demanding its resignation.

It also blames it for covering up the assassination of Hasan which it blames on Syria.

A number of March 14 officials received text message death threats from Syria days after the assassination of Hasan.

Hasan was assassinated in a massive car bomb in Ashrafiyeh on October 19, that left three dead and more than 100 wounded.