Salam 'Very Dismayed' by Kataeb Resignation, Calls It a 'Mistake'

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is “very dismayed” by Kataeb Party's decision to withdraw its ministers from the government, al-Liwaa newspaper quoted the PM's visitors as saying.

The premier told his visitors that he was “very dismayed by Kataeb's stance that comes amid critical and difficult situations in the country,” the daily said.

“The timing is inappropriate for such a step,” Salam was quoted as saying.

And in direct remarks, the PM told al-Liwaa that “Kataeb's move was a mistake,” stressing that “it is unacceptable to paralyze the country for any reason.”

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel had announced the resignation of Kataeb's two ministers Sejaan Qazzi and Alain Hakim overnight, saying Lebanon needed a “positive shock.”

The decision does not involve Information Minister Ramzi Jreij who is not a Kataeb member, although he was nominated by the party.

“For a while now, they have been trying to suppress us through cabinet mechanisms that were created with the aim of stifling our opinion and preventing us from stopping their deals,” Gemayel said.

“They are not concerned with protecting the banking sector against the verbal attacks and they did not care about the economic plan that was submitted by the economy minister (Hakim),” Gemayel went on to say.

“They are only concerned with passing suspicious deals,” he said.

On Thursday, Gemayel hinted that his party's ministers might resign or suspend their participation in cabinet sessions should their presence in the government cease to “serve the interest of the Lebanese.”

Gemayel voiced his remarks shortly after Kataeb's ministers walked out of a cabinet session in protest at the government's handling of the waste management file.

At his press conference on Thursday, Gemayel also expressed environmental concerns related to the controversial Janna dam project.

“The two issues are a disaster targeted against every citizen in Lebanon,” he said.

Y.R.