REPORT: March 14 forces boycott meeting aimed at discussing pay scale

The Joint Parliamentary Committees convened a meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan and in the absence of March 14 deputies.

Following the meeting, MP Kanaan stressed that the joint committees are “the only party entitled to discuss the pay scale.”

"We need a state budget, however, the task of the joint committees is to discuss the pay scale," he added.

Earlier, Future Bloc MP Jamal Jarrah who attended the session, noted that he is not representing March 14 forces, and explained that he is personally following up on the dossier of the new wage hike.

He also stated that the budget report raised by the Ministry of Finance included all the imports aimed at funding the pay scale, but not the expenses.

He asked MP Kanaan, on behalf of the Future Bloc, to adjourn the session and refer the budget to parliament in a bid to examine certain unresolved issues.

“Today’s session would have hindered the ratification of wage hike,” MP Jarrah said.

For his part, Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc MP Ali Fayyad expressed his astonishment over linking the pay scale to the state’s general budget, voicing his concern over intentions aimed at hindering approval of the series of ranks and salaries.

He also called on the Joint Parliamentary Committees to hold open meetings in order to pave the way for a general authority session with the pay scale as the first item on its agenda.

Prior to the session, a meeting was held between MP Ibrahim Kanaan and the Union Coordination Committee at the parliament based on the latter’s request to discuss the series of ranks and salaries. Another meeting was held between Kanaan and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to discuss the demands of the military sector.

Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet endorsed the new salary scale for public employees in 2012, ending a long dispute that had triggered several sit-ins and strikes held by the UCC.

Former President Michel Sleiman signed the decree mid-June 2013 and it was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committees for further examination; however, the law was never passed to parliament.