Berri: Saniora Governmentt Bill of Amendment Unconstitutional

Source: Al-Manar TV, 42-12-2007
Speaker Nabih Berri stressed the recent move by Fouad Saniora's unconstitutional government constitutes "the escalation" that we have been warning against. Speaking on Monday, Berri said that he does not recognize the resolution and that the parliament's presidency will not receive the draft bill of amendment.
In its most recent violation of the constitution, Saniora's government endorsed a draft bill to amend article 49 of the constitution "for a single time" to allow senior public servants (namely Army Chief General Michel Suleiman) to become president. A Cabinet statement said the draft law will be submitted to parliament for ratification. Saniora's government also demanded that parliament opens an extraordinary legislative session as of January 1st.
Berri firmly criticized Saniora and his ministerial bloc and accused them of working on popularizing the presidential void and seeking to monopolize every jurisdiction while benefiting from Washington's position. The Speaker said that the move by Saniora's government hampers the process of electing Suleiman as president "because they know that (article 47 of the constitution) does not require an amendment of the constitution." Berri added that he has the formula that does not require an amendment to elect Suleiman, "but it seems that they do not want dialogue but they want to impose a fait accompli which no one will accept."
For his part, the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP General Michel Aoun stressed the recent step taken by Fouad Saniora's government means that the ruling bloc does not want agreement in Lebanon. Speaking to Al-Akhbar daily, Aoun said that the February 14 camp have torpedoed what was being worked on recently. "They chose Christmas Eve to commit a sin," Aoun told the daily. "They believe that by doing so they would establish the presidential vacuum and let Saniora's government run the country," he added. General Aoun underlined the opposition would not remain silent over what's been going on recently and will have a clear and practical stance, "especially that Saniora's government move is based on instructions given to the ruling bloc."
The Assafir daily said that during Monday's cabinet session, Finance minister in Saniora's unconstitutional government, Jihad Azour, challenged the conduct of the session and addressed Saniora saying "if what you are about to do comes in the framework of political tactics, then it will have dangerous consequences on both the government and the March 14 powers...and if there were a serious trend away from political maneuvers, then does this mean going for a confrontation to the very end...or do we settle for this tactical move?" Another minister in Saniora's government, Mohamad Safadi, was reserved as to the course of the cabinet session. According to the daily, Safadi expressed fear that this move could backlash because it does not serve General Suleiman and it harms national consensus on his candidacy for presidency.
Opposition sources told Al-Manar that Saniora's recent resolution is nonexistent. They said that the opposition is discussing a decisive response to other moves and resolutions by the amputated government, especially that bad smell have begun to rise from bargains to appoint diplomats and judges as well as promotions to senior military officers "and of course not to forget the anticipated plundering of the cellular phone sector."