BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s denial of a report claiming he would resign if Lebanon failed to pay its share of funding toward the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was backed Friday by MP Robert Ghanem.
Speaking to a local radio station, Ghanem said the statement from Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office Thursday contained an accurate account of the nature of the talks between the two – during which Mikati had allegedly made the remark over his resignation – including that the subject of the controversial court had not been approached.
Al-Liwaa Thursday quoted a parliamentary source as saying that Mikati, during a dinner hosted by the prime minister at the Grand Serail, had informed Ghanem that “his resignation would be ready if his allies in the government are not convinced, especially Hezbollah, the Amal [movement]and [MP Michel] Aoun’s [Free Patriotic] Movement, of the necessity of funding the tribunal.”
Speaking to Voice of Lebanon, Ghanem said his talks with Mikati had been only brief and on the sidelines of the dinner. The two, he added, had discussions that centered on the separation of the duties of deputies from that of ministers, recently approved by the Cabinet.
Mikati’s office issued a statement denying the report Thursday.
“This report is inaccurate and the brief encounter which brought together the prime minister and MP Ghanem ... only dealt with possible amendments to the draft law for the parliamentary electoral law, particularly the issue of separating the Parliament from the Cabinet,” the statement said.
No comments:
Post a Comment