BEIRUT: Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas slammed Thursday a decision by ministers to adopt a wage hike proposal by Prime Minister Najib Mikati proposal over his own plan and said Lebanese had missed out on the opportunity for achieving wider economic reform.

“The benefits [Mikati] offered in his proposal are much less than [what I had proposed] and it has cost Lebanese the [opportunity] to undertake a valid process to reach universal health coverage,” Nahhas told Sawt al-Mada Radio station in an interview aired Thursday.

He added that there was a fundamental difference between Mikati’s proposal and his own.

The Cabinet approved a decree Wednesday night to raise the minimum wage by LL100,000, stipulating that salaries under LL1 million be increased by 30 percent up to a LL200,000 increase, and salaries above LL1 million by a 20 percent increase up to LL275,000.

Ministers voted on the decree after Mikati proposed an alternative to Nahhas' proposal which did not receive sufficient support after the minister explained his formula in Cabinet.

Nahhas' proposal, supported by Change and Reform bloc ministers, would have seen a 17 percent increase on salaries up to LL1 million, while salaries above LL1 million would be increased by LL170,000.

The step also included other measures that would have, according to Nahhas, paved the way for the implementation of publically funded universal health coverage.

“What happened in Cabinet is a face-off between two methods of approach ... [which revealed] a disregard for the interests of the people,” Nahhas said.

He also said that work was still needed to change the existing economic dynamic.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Mohammad Fneish said Hezbollah’s ministers did not vote against Nahhas only because the proposal had not been put to a vote.

“However, voting happened for the formula presented by Mikati and we said we were not against it,” Fneish told As-Safir newspaper in an article published Thursday.

He added that Nahhas' proposal required further study given that it entailed the adjustment of existing laws.

“[Nahhas’] proposal of the minimum wage had already been rejected by the private sector and labor unions,” Fneish said.

The General Labor Confederation also rejected the Cabinet’s approved wage hike and threatened to relaunch a strike that had been aborted in mid-October.

In an interview with As-Safir newspaper, Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil also criticized the work of the government, arguing that Mikati’s proposal on wage hikes had failed to put forward a socioeconomic reform program.