Bassil: Lebanese Cabinet Violates Law, Sanctity of People

 
Source: Al-Manar TV, 27-3-2009

"The government is not only violating the law, but also the sanctity of the people," Telecommunication Minister Gebran Bassil told reporters on Thursday following another lengthy cabinet session that lasted until midnight.

Bassil's announcement came following a session that seemed to be a "quiet" one thanks to the cancellation of all controversial items from its agenda. However, the wiretapping issue that was raised during the session was enough to cause a dispute between the two rival blocs.

Indeed, the Telecommunications Minister brought up the expiration of the deadline for allowing security and military services to violate Law 140 on governmental wiretapping and obtain whatever information they want from his ministry.

Bassil said the deadline given to security and military authorities ran out without any amendment to the wiretap law number 140. He stressed that eavesdropping wiretapping cannot continue.

Yet, the cabinet decided following consultations to delay until May 15 the deadline of the decree taken on February 5 on the necessity of providing security services with requested data from the Telecommunications Ministry. "Quote me as saying: The government is not only violating the law, but also the sanctity of the people," Bassil therefore told reporters following the session.

Meanwhile, the cabinet approved the appointments of all four deputies to the central bank governor. They are: Mohammed Baasiri, Raed Sharafeddine, Saad al-Inderi and Armenian Harout Samuelian.

But FPM ministers Issam Abu Jamra, Jebral Bassil, and Mario Aoun expressed reservations over the manner with which the appointments were made and not the names of the deputies to the central bank governor.

According to Lebanese daily An-Nahar, the FPM ministers complained that they were informed of the appointments on the same day and not 48 hours ahead of the session as stipulated by the law. An-Nahar said President Michel Suleiman stepped in, saying that the issue had been thoroughly examined and it was time to approve the appointments.