Berri Calls Head of Parliamentary Committees to Meet to Resolve Dispute over Spending

Speaker Nabih Berri called for a session for the heads of the parliamentary committees on Monday amid efforts to resolve a dispute over the spending of funds during the governments of former Prime Ministers Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

Informed parliamentary sources told the daily that the speaker is seeking the formation of a parliamentary-ministerial committee that can tackle the dispute and conduct contacts with the various blocs to reach a solution.

The proposed committee would include Ministers Mohammed Safadi, Mohammed Fneish, and Wael Abu Faoud, MPs Ibrahim Kanaan, Robert Ghanem, Ghazi Youssef, Jamal al-Jarrah, and Yassine Jaber.

The sources added however that the Change and Reform bloc has not yet decided on whether it would take part in the committee.

Earlier this week a parliamentary session was adjourned to March 5 after lack of quorum following a decision by the majority of March 14 alliance opposition lawmakers to leave the legislature in an attempt to block the adoption of a bill that would legalize $5.9 billion spending by the government above 2005 levels.

The parliamentary majority led by the March 8 forces failed to settle the controversy on $11 billion spent during the Saniora and Hariri governments.

March 14 parliamentary sources had stressed that the opposition lawmakers would not vote in favor of the bill and a transportation allowance draft law proposed by Kanaan, if the March 8 forces failed to settle the $11 billion controversy.