Bou Saab after two meetings on the amnesty law proposal: The Parliament is master of itself

A meeting was held in the office of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab, attended by a number of representatives of parliamentary blocs, during two sessions, the first before noon and the second in the afternoon, and the proposed amnesty law was discussed.

Bou Saab said after the evening meeting: "After this long day, the topic we discussed deserves effort and work, and it is the topic of the general amnesty proposed by a number of fellow deputies, and there was an affirmation of the necessity to reach the greatest possible collective consensus and to have a sufficient number of deputies to pass the general amnesty law. I want to say that the humanitarian situation in prisons was pressing, in addition to some people unjustly imprisoned, where it became clear that sentences were issued against them that were less than the years they should have been in prison, and our goal is to agree on this law and for it to see the light. I am keen on the law, and some of those who criticize do not come to the sessions at all, and the serious ones are those present today to discuss how we will reach a law in which we do justice to everyone."

He pointed to "the consensus among the leaders, which is a facilitating work for passing this law," and said: "Out of concern for the sessions, I decided to adjourn them to conduct consultations, so where is the mistake if we decided to meet? And those who boycotted today's session asked us to suspend the session, and to go to private sessions, like what happened today to discuss the matters of disagreement, and it is the right of colleagues to be absent or boycott, but if we do not talk with each other and with some of the deputies not present with us who form large blocs, how will we reach the largest number of votes in favor of the law."

He continued: "Today, Defense Minister Michel Menassa attended and officially informed us of the observations of the military institution and the army, regarding what some deputies had agreed upon, and it turned out that the army's observations completely contradict what they had informed us, and I am committed to the statement issued from Baabda Palace, and from this standpoint we handed these observations to the Defense Minister."

He indicated that "the Parliament is master of itself, and any settlement we bear responsibility for, not the military institution, but the army and the military institution are not an obstacle to any political agreement between us."

He concluded: "The session we held before noon and after it reached an understanding that the largest number of deputies would agree to the amendments we made."