The media office of President Fouad Al-Siniora stated that "the remarks made by the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, during his television interview—where he claimed that President Al-Siniora was the one who engineered the increase in the salary scale in Parliament—are fabricated and detached from the well-known and evident truth that President Al-Siniora is the only politician who opposed the approval of the salary scale in its three phases." It was evident in several of his positions and speeches he delivered in Parliament during the sessions held to approve it in the years 2011, 2012, and 2017, which were the years following the two governments he headed.
He added: "Parliamentary records testify to President Al-Siniora's interventions and public and oppositional stances before everyone, confronting many who insisted on increasing spending in such a perilous manner, as it burdened the state's finances beyond its capacity, especially amidst the ongoing obstinacy to approve and implement administrative, economic, and financial reforms that Al-Siniora stressed must be adopted and adhered to. However, the majority of political forces in Parliament agreed to approve those new scales under the pressure of overwhelming populist bidding, particularly what happened in 2017 before the parliamentary elections, specifically in the speech delivered by President Al-Siniora in that session held on 15/03/2017, which testifies to that."
The media office stated: "The words and positions of President Al-Siniora in the sessions and discussions of Parliament regarding the draft laws for the approval of salary scales from 2011 to 2017 emphasized the great dangers that would arise from ongoing recklessness and lack of discipline in spending, and from the failure to approve and implement the necessary reforms that Lebanon needs, which should increase production capacity, enhance productivity efficiency in the Lebanese economy, limit patronage and wasteful spending, and also increase public treasury revenues. This is known, as the ongoing deficit in both the budget and treasury accounts will have dire future consequences."
He concluded: "The majority of political forces know and realize that Al-Siniora was the first to warn against excessive and shortsighted spending to prevent Lebanon from reaching its current state, which the Lebanese people know well and that the governor is aware of, yet he chooses to ignore."
