Member of the Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan explained Friday that he supports “a reform budget,” stressing that he has never linked the item pertaining to the budget with that of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
In a statement to LBCI’s Nharkom Said, Kanaan noted that he refused to vote on the budget draft law due to the absence of an essential team of the parliamentary committee tasked with discussing this matter.
Addressing MP Jamal al-Jarrah, Kanaan said that “the Future Movement’s financial crimes are documented over the years, but there is no financial accountability in Lebanon,” stressing that these crimes remain the movement’s responsibility.
Kanaan’s remarks came in response to al-Jarrah’s statement during Nharkom Said’s episode, whereby he said that “Kanaan placed the budget draft law on the shelf for failing to garner approval over the item pertaining to the STL.”
In turn, al-Jarrah said that Kanaan’s position within the parliamentary committee is sound, noting however, that he has no right to reject the referral of the budget draft law to the Parliament.
“Kanaan does not have the right to take a decision on behalf of the Parliament’s general authority and to halt the budget’s approval due to accountability,” he explained.