The parliamentary committees held a joint session this morning in the National Assembly, presided over by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, with the attendance of several members of parliament. Bou Saab stated after the session: "There were three items on the agenda. The first is a draft law aimed at opening appropriations in the budget to cover some additional expenses, which means providing temporary compensation to all public sector employees and retirees who benefit from a pension, according to the details outlined in the schedule. The second draft law is to cover providing financial incentives and transportation allowances for Lebanese University professors to enable them to complete the current academic year. We all know that public sector and education teachers are in need, and the problems are significant and increasing. The third item is related to the completion of the study of the social security law and the establishment of a pension and social protection system."
He added: "In the opinion of all the deputies, the government bears the responsibility for the inaction that has led us to the current state and the repeated failures we have come to expect from the government, whether it is a caretaker government or whether it meets in a manner that is contentious."
Bou Saab continued: "In general terms, we prefer to have an established government and a president so that the country can run smoothly, without the need for us in the National Assembly to take on this task according to necessity and urgency. What need is there when there are 400,000 families that will be affected by the draft laws we have submitted to the National Assembly? 400,000 families whose salaries have lost their value; the government is incapable. Regardless of whether the government presents draft laws that we accept or not, some consider the government's work to be non-existent while others have expressed their opinions. We consider this matter to be legal and referred by the assembly to the joint committees. To avoid the existing political conflict, some colleagues have pointed out that we should not bear the fireball sent by the government. What should we do? But who pays the price? Is it not the citizen, the military, the teacher, or the 400,000 families? For this reason, the government sent the laws three months ago and did not make any effort to secure an alternative."
