Mikati: Rifts won’t force me out

Prime Minister Najib Mikati vowed Thursday to stay in office despite sharp differences with Michel Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc over the issue of civil service appointments that led to the suspension of Cabinet meetings. Taking a defiant stance, Mikati implicitly accused Aoun’s ministers of obstructing the Cabinet’s work, saying he will not allow anyone to undermine the prime minister’s prerogatives. “Some are seeking to obstruct the Cabinet’s work and bring matters backward. We reject this matter in the name of the Lebanese who fully realize that we have no time to waste or let opportunities slip at present and in the future,” Mikati said in a speech during a ceremony marking the expansion of Tripoli port in the north. “It is not a matter of sulking or resignation as some of them may think. I will not resign or sulk from serving my country. But it is high time for the Cabinet to be productive, effective and homogeneous and up to the responsibility in which matters can be discussed clearly and positively with a sincere intention to work and produce according to the rules and laws in force,” Mikati said. He said the Cabinet should not be a venue for bickering, trading barbs, scoring points or obstruction. “That’s why I took the decision by asking the president to suspend [Wednesday’s] session until we agree on the means of energizing rather than obstructing the Cabinet’s productivity,” Mikati added. Lebanon plunged into a Cabinet crisis Wednesday after Mikati abruptly ended a government session over sharp differences with ministers from Aoun’s bloc over appointments in the public administration. The heated argument broke out during the session after Aoun’s ministers objected to President Michel Sleiman proposing candidates for the post of the head of the Higher Disciplinary Committee and the government representative at this committee. The two posts are affiliated with the prime minister’s office. In wake of the heated debate, Sleiman suspended the session on the request of Mikati. In comments on Twitter, Mikati said that “the suspension of the council of ministers session today falls within the PM’s constitutional prerogatives especially when there’s quorum.” During the ceremony in Tripoli, Mikati said he had avoided responding to smear campaigns and accusations for the sake of Lebanon’s interest. “I have encountered all difficulties because my goal was to achieve and protect stability in the country. Therefore, I opted not to enter into arguments or engage in useless [rhetoric],” he said. Declaring that he was open to calm debate on national and public matters, Mikati said: “But I cannot and must not be lenient or take a spectator’s stance on matters linked to the Constitution, the constitutional prerogatives and pressing socio-economic reforms.” “Neither bickering, nor personal or electoral calculations are fit to serve as a criterion for the Cabinet’s decisions and policies. My constitutional duty is to administer the Cabinet’s work and correct its path if the need arose in order to achieve the productivity required from the government,” Mikati said. Earlier, Mikati said in an interview with As-Safir newspaper that his patience was wearing thin and that the government would remain suspended if the executive branch remained unproductive. Asked when the Cabinet would meet again following Wednesday’s stormy session, a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star Thursday: “The prime minister’s speech in Tripoli sent a clear message on when the Cabinet can meet again.” Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil maintained that the prime minister had surprised the session by submitting candidates for appointments, arguing that it was the Change and Reform bloc’s right “whether to decide to agree or not.” Beirut - The Daily star