Ministerial Statements Final Touches, Charge Indictment to the Forefront
Mariam Ali
Lebanese developments this week show an upcoming race between the birth of a policy statement from the new Cabinet and a possible verdict from the U.N backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon dealing with the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri. This comes after the Lebanese judges related to the tribunal were summoned to The Hague amidst turbulent regional circumstances especially those relating to the situation in Syria.
The Lebanese news paper "An-Nahar" said that "two weeks into the formation of the new government, PM Najib Mikati's Cabinet seeks to finalize the government's policy statement in three meetings of the ministerial committee Monday through Wednesday."
These meetings are of importance since they will discuss the draft presented by Mikati, particularly the article that deals with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, ministerial sources said.
An-Nahar learned that the government has taken two very different approaches to the debate over the STL: Mikati's approach, which stems from Lebanon's commitment to international resolutions and need for protection from impending dangers. The other stems from the possibility of imposing a fait accompli, a matter that will expose Lebanon to a series of dangers.
In the meantime, members of the ministerial statement drafting panel, said in an interview to "As-Safir" newspaper that if the charges' sheet was released before completing the statement, it will not necessarily reflect negatively on the task of the Committee, but may facilitate its mission in finishing the International Tribunal item of the, since it will then know how it will deal with this file judicially and politically.
In a related development, sources in the majority informed the same newspaper that it must speed up the development of the ministerial statement and give confidence to the government in order to be able to face the forthcoming developments, especially the indictment.
Sources expressed fears that the subsequent media leaks concerning the very soon issuance of the indictment aim at disrupting the discussions of the ministerial statement and pushing for postponement of completion, in order to achieve the desire of some in the announcement of the decision while the government is incomplete readiness, and therefore not ready to deal with the indictment's repercussions.
The sources revealed that the work is going to prepare a form for the International Tribunal paragraph in the ministerial statement that is beyond the formalities taking into account the content related to maintaining the balance between truth and justice on the one hand, and internal stability and civil peace on the other hand.
The sources believe that the Ministerial Committee is going Monday to read the full draft of the ministerial statement, after entering the required adjustments to them, particularly in regard to economic trends set by the Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi and Minister of Economy, Nicola Nahhas in the light of observations made by ministers.
Lebanese developments this week show an upcoming race between the birth of a policy statement from the new Cabinet and a possible verdict from the U.N backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon dealing with the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri. This comes after the Lebanese judges related to the tribunal were summoned to The Hague amidst turbulent regional circumstances especially those relating to the situation in Syria.
The Lebanese news paper "An-Nahar" said that "two weeks into the formation of the new government, PM Najib Mikati's Cabinet seeks to finalize the government's policy statement in three meetings of the ministerial committee Monday through Wednesday."
These meetings are of importance since they will discuss the draft presented by Mikati, particularly the article that deals with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, ministerial sources said.
An-Nahar learned that the government has taken two very different approaches to the debate over the STL: Mikati's approach, which stems from Lebanon's commitment to international resolutions and need for protection from impending dangers. The other stems from the possibility of imposing a fait accompli, a matter that will expose Lebanon to a series of dangers.
In the meantime, members of the ministerial statement drafting panel, said in an interview to "As-Safir" newspaper that if the charges' sheet was released before completing the statement, it will not necessarily reflect negatively on the task of the Committee, but may facilitate its mission in finishing the International Tribunal item of the, since it will then know how it will deal with this file judicially and politically.
In a related development, sources in the majority informed the same newspaper that it must speed up the development of the ministerial statement and give confidence to the government in order to be able to face the forthcoming developments, especially the indictment.
Sources expressed fears that the subsequent media leaks concerning the very soon issuance of the indictment aim at disrupting the discussions of the ministerial statement and pushing for postponement of completion, in order to achieve the desire of some in the announcement of the decision while the government is incomplete readiness, and therefore not ready to deal with the indictment's repercussions.
The sources revealed that the work is going to prepare a form for the International Tribunal paragraph in the ministerial statement that is beyond the formalities taking into account the content related to maintaining the balance between truth and justice on the one hand, and internal stability and civil peace on the other hand.
The sources believe that the Ministerial Committee is going Monday to read the full draft of the ministerial statement, after entering the required adjustments to them, particularly in regard to economic trends set by the Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi and Minister of Economy, Nicola Nahhas in the light of observations made by ministers.
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