BEIRUT: The following are excerpts taken from speeches given by MPs during the vote of confidence at Wednesday’s parliamentary session.

Nadim Gemayel (Kataeb Party)

“[Prime Minister Najib] Mikati’s Cabinet … came to assassinate the international tribunal, meaning yet another assassination for [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri … we will not allow this Cabinet composed of people of weapons and traces of the Syrian regime to assassinate the tribunal,” Kataeb Party MP Nadim Gemayel said.

Nohad Mashnouk (Future Movement)

“The power of weapons has violated constitutional institutions and brought this Cabinet into power… Everyone who is now [in a ministerial post] is here as a result of [this violation],” Mashnouk, who was interrupted by Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, said. Khalil considered Mashnouk's statements offensive to the resistance.

Mashnouk also criticized Mikati and MP Walid Jumblatt for claiming to be centrists, adding that both lawmakers had betrayed those who elected them when the two abandoned their support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Hezbollah lawmakers attending the session voiced several complaints with Mashnouk's speech, interrupting him throughout, and urged Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri not to allow the Future Movement lawmaker to continue.

Kamel Rifai (The Loyalty to the Resistance)

“Since when have we expected any justice from the international community?  … It was established to serve the interest of dominant countries,” MP Kamel Rifai said, adding that the tribunal was not legitimate and its principles were not compatible with Lebanon.

The politician also criticized March 14 lawmakers for attacking the Cabinet’s intentions, rather than its work.

Rifai raised his concern over many challenges facing the area of Baalbek, including its deteriorating education and economic conditions, urging the government to pay attention the region.

Antoine Zahra (Lebanese Forces)

"Our response to fear and pressure … will always be addressed from this Parliament. We will only use words [against the majority] because our words will be stronger than the use of weapons," Lebanese Forces MP Zahra told members of Parliament.

"Concerning the Cabinet formation, I would like to congratulate women for not being part of this Cabinet … I see women bigger than all of these positions in the Cabinet," he added.

Addressing Mikati directly, Zahra said: “We will will be watching every move you make and we will oppose every thing we do not agree with."

“The prime minister and his team could not take out the word ‘in principle’ from the policy statement so that it could be less provocative for those who are waiting to discover the truth regarding the series of allegations,” Zahra said, adding that he was holding Mikati and the Cabinet responsible for including such a controversial word.

Ziyad Aswad (Free Patriotic Movement)

“This government was not formed through a coup … but it was formed to bring an end to the lack of security and to halt the waste of public funds,” MP Ziad Aswad said.

Aswad called on the new Cabinet to reform Lebanon’s judiciary, adding that a state cannot survive without an independent legal body.

He also defended the Special Tribunal for Lebanon clause in the policy statement which stipulates that the Cabinet will follow the progress of the international court that was "in principle" established to probe the assassination of former statesman Rafik Hariri, saying: “This court is corrupt and is not legitimate.”

Simon Abi Ramia (Free Patriotic Movement)

“The new opposition wants to play a destructive role, rather than a constructive one,” MP Simon Abi Ramia said, adding that the new majority would hold all ministers accountable when it comes to building state institutions.

“I ask the opposition to stop the lies and the misleading slogans and return to the country … I say this after I have heard you calling on [the international and regional communities] to punish Lebanon,” Abi Ramia said.

He also criticized the previous “dominant power” which he said had isolated the FPM and the “Christian majority from government.”

“If we agree with you then we become your allies, but if we disagree, then we are the source of all evil,” Abi Ramia said, referring the March 14 movement.

Nabil Nkoula (Free Patriotic Movement)

MP Nabil Nkoula criticized the March 14 coalition’s calls for the international and regional community to bring down the Cabinet, describing this position as a “betrayal to Lebanon.”

“[March 14’s] position is a national betrayal and they should be sanctioned, condemned and tried for this treachery,” Nkoula said.

Jamal Jarrah (Future Movement)

MP Jamal Jarrah said that those who assassinated Hariri and all the martyrs after him were “not bigger than their country” and their prosecution would lead to justice.

“You are biased at all levels … biased and ambiguous. This is not real centrism, but a Mikati-style centrism,” Jarrah said.

He also accused the March 8 alliance and Mikati of inciting a civil war by adopting the current policy statement and urged Mikati not to bring back the Syrian tutelage over Lebanon and to commit to the STL.