The gap had widened between the parties over “false witnesses issue”, which is expected to be the first item on the session’s agenda, in the UN investigation of the 2005 assassination of former premier martyr Rafiq Hariri. The witnesses whose false testimonies had caused the detention of four Lebanese officers for four years without charges.
Well-informed sources told As-Safir newspaper that it excludes any breakthrough prior to the cabinet meeting in the light of Hariri’s rejection for the principle of Justice Council, whatever the mechanism adopted, and the opposition's rejection of the principle the regular judiciary proposed by Hariri should handle the false witnesses issue.
And in front of these constants, As-Safir reported, the only scenario likely is that the cabinet will discuss the false witnesses issues and the proposals raised for discussing, but without having a consensus on any of them, and then President Michel Sleiman would adjourn the session or propose to move to discuss other item. Then the opposition ministers threaten to quit.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said in an interview with As-Safir that discussions of Lebanese parties should compliment Syrian-Saudi efforts and not disturb them. The newspaper quoted Jumblatt as saying that he hoped the false witnesses issue would be finalized by consensus during the upcoming cabinet session, and that he does not mind transferring the controversial issue to the Justice Council. However, he added that it was not his wish that minister vote on whether the false witnesses file should be transferred to the Justice Council.
Al-Akhbar newspaper said that in today’s cabinet all parties without exception, “are seeking to pass time waiting for the outcome of the Syrian-Saudi effort. No solution is in the possession of anyone, and no one is ready for a deal.” The paper analyzed that the session’s outcome would be the same as November 10 session.
The cabinet has not met since its November 10 session, in which discussion of the “false witnesses” controversy was postponed to avoid a divisive vote.
Contacts among rival groups continued until late Tuesday in a bid to find a compromise solution over the issue of false witnesses.
The Daily Star quoted government sources as ruling out the possibility of Wednesday’s Cabinet session achieving any breakthroughs. The sources said the session was likely to be postponed similar to previous ones that tackled “false witnesses.”
Every party is throwing the ball into the other’s court. “The ball is now in Hariri’s court,” a senior political source from the March 8 coalition told The Daily Star. A source from Hariri’s Future Movement, meanwhile, said the “stubborn” attitude displayed by the March 8 camp meant that the country would plunge into “a deeper state of paralysis.”
However, New TV quoted Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Hassan Khalil as saying that the atmosphere is “positive”, and added that the March 8 coalition ministers will participate in Wednesday’s cabinet session.
“Prime Minister Saad Hariri was informed of the new suggestions regarding the false witnesses file,” Khalil said, voicing hope that the PM responds to the new suggestions before the cabinet convenes.
However, reports have said that Khalil, who was tasked by Parliament speaker Nabih Berri to convey his proposal that the Justice Council itself rule on whether it has jurisdiction on the false witnesses file to Hariri, returned empty handed after Hariri had reportedly rejected the proposal. Government sources have said that Hariri came up with a “legal and constitutional” means to tackle the issue of false witnesses.
Berri told An-Nahar newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that he proposed an all-Lebanese initiative to resolve the country’s political impasse.
Hariri responded to Berri by saying: “We proposed a solution that is not only all-Lebanese, but also a constitutional and legal one,” in an interview with An-Nahar. The PM added that he was waiting for Berri’s response to the latest proposal. Hariri suggested establishing a judicial commission consisting of six judges to study the controversial issue and suggest a suitable solution.
River to Sea
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