MINISTER OF STATE FOR PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS MICHEL PHARAON: ‘PRIORITY TO FULLY APPLYING THE CABINET’S POLICY STATEMENT’

In an interview with Monday Morning and its sister-publications Al-Hawadeth, Al-Bayrak and La Revue du Liban, Beirut MP Michel Pharaon, who has been appointed as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the recently-formed cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, didn’t try hard to hide his annoyance. His Christian and Greek Catholic “weight” hadn’t truly been respected, since he has been appointed only as a minister of state, while he would have preferred to be given a ministerial portfolio. He added that since he had been a minister in cabinets presided by the late Premier Rafik Hariri his representation with a portfolio would have given “added value” to Premier Saad Hariri’s cabinet. If he had accepted this “unfair” situation, it was only to facilitate the formation of a new cabinet, since the country could “no longer tolerate paralysis and blockage”. During the course of the interview, he noted that the cabinet was a “coalition cabinet”, not one of “national unity”, as it is currently described. Minister Pharaon called on all parties to tackle the controversial issues especially that of implantation of Palestinian refugees, the economy, security and the political situation.