26/11/2009 The national unity cabinet decided to "congratulate" Lebanese on Al-Adha with a "special" gift: the ministerial statement…
 
Indeed, and after nine sessions of discussion, the committee tasked with drafting the ministerial Policy Statement adopted on Thursday the final draft amid "reservations" by Ministers Boutros Harb and Salim al-Sayegh despite "unity" and "concensus."
After the tenth and last session, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri will contact President Michel Sleiman to inform him of the statement's draft content and to agree on a date for the government session that will endorse the statement.
 
Labor Minister Boutros Harb said that the new formulation is not an identical copy of its predecessor, stressing that the State's authority is highlighted in a way that was not present in the previous statement.
 
For his part, Social Affairs Minister Salim al-Sayegh said that the ministers "managed to improve the statement a lot regarding the State's sovereignty." Yet, he expressed "reservation" over it.
 
Earlier Wednesday, the committee concluded the platform after more than seven hours of discussions. The committee agreed to adopt the same clause approved by the previous cabinet over the resistance's arms.

Lebanese daily An-Nahar said Thursday that the conferees introduced a new section on the government's priorities under the headline of "The priorities of the People … The Priorities of the Cabinet."
 
An-Nahar quoted ministerial sources as saying that for the first time, the committee discussed 13-14 priorities, a sign that the cabinet "will put all conflicting issues aside and focus on the people's concerns such as electricity and water."