Bassil: cabinet should separate politics from public services

Source: nowlebanon.com, 22-08-2008

Communication Minister Gebran Bassil said that the cabinet needed to separate politics from public services.

After meeting with PM Fouad Saniora at the Serail on Friday, Bassil told journalists that the two had discussed Liban Telecom and the need for further privatization, and less bureaucratic red tape.

"I think that PM Saniora and I have the potential to distinguish between politics and public services.

Each one of us freely expresses his point of view when a conflict emerges such as that of the privileges of the deputy PM," Bassil said before adding that "the deputy PM must practice his role without adding privileges or taking those of the PM."

"Cooperation does not mean that we have the right to suppress one another's views," Bassil said.

"If cabinet is to function properly every minister must be able to perform their job without other ministers interfering."