Lebanese Politics

Lebanese Politics

 Lebanese Politics, News

Berri to call session to elect president by early May

BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to convene a Parliament meeting to elect a new president by end of this month or early May, a March 8 source said Sunday, implicitly rejecting the patriarch’s call for an early session this week.

“Speaker Berri will call Parliament into the first session to elect a new president by the end of April or early May,” the source told The Daily Star.

The source said a Parliament meeting, scheduled for Tuesday to debate and vote on the public sector’s controversial salary scale bill, has made holding an early session to elect a new president impossible.

“The wage hike bill might not be approved Tuesday given the remaining differences among lawmakers on revenues and proposed taxes to fund the salary scale,” the source said.

He added that the local, regional and international climate was still in favor of holding the presidential election on time to avert a vacuum in the presidency. “The picture is not yet clear concerning the presidential candidates,” the source said.

Because of Parliament’s session Tuesday, the Cabinet will meet at Baabda Palace Wednesday, a source close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam said. Salam is expected to meet President Michel Sleiman Monday.

Earlier Sunday, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai urged Berri to begin convening Parliament this week to elect a new president, as Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea sounded confident that his March 14 allies would support his candidacy.

“We are all looking forward for the Parliament speaker to announce in the next two days the beginning of sessions to elect a new president who is up to the current political, economic and security challenges,” Rai said in a Palm Sunday Mass in Bkirki, north of Beirut.

Rai said a new president should be “a guarantee for the legitimacy of all constitutional institutions and to push the state forward and open new horizons in our national life.”

“The best choice of the most appropriate and competent president for the country requires plenty of time for voting and consultations.”

Rai indicated that Parliament must begin meeting to elect a new president after it is done debating and voting on the salary scale bill for the public sector employees and teachers.

Lebanon last month entered the two-month constitutional deadline for Parliament to meet to elect a new head of state to replace Sleiman whose six-year term expires on May 25.

Bishop Elias Awdeh, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, called for the election of a peace-loving president in Lebanon.

“I want a president who loves Lebanon. I want him to be peaceful, a man of peace who has no malice or hatred in his heart,” Awdeh said in a Palm Sunday Mass he led at the St. Georges Cathedral on Njmeh Square in Beirut.

Geagea earlier this month announced he would run for the presidency, unleashing what promises to be a fiercely contested presidential battle, overshadowed by tough security and economic challenges posed by the adverse fallout of the 3-year-old war in Syria.

In addition to Geagea, Western Bekaa MP Robert Ghanem from the March 14 coalition has also announced his candidacy to the country’s top Christian post.

Although the March 14 coalition has not yet officially taken a stance on Geagea’s candidacy, the LF chief appeared to be confident of winning the coalition’s support. “I would not have run in the election if I were not certain of the March 14 alliance’s support for me,” Geagea said in an interview to be published in the Saudi daily Al-Watan Monday.

“My allies in the March 14 coalition are very close to making a decision to support my candidacy to the presidency,” he said. “We have our own political project and we must seek to implement it by all available means.”

“ Lebanon has become an open ground for chaos, which leaves it vulnerable to further deterioration,” Geagea said.“Strong individuals should assume official posts in order to strengthen the state. Lebanon should have a strong president who is capable of implementing a strong political program.”

In another statement, Geagea said he was waiting for his ally, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to endorse his candidacy to the presidency.

“[Former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri has not yet publicly announced that he backs my candidacy to the presidency, bearing in mind that he has once said that Samir Geagea is his candidate for the post,” Geagea told an Algerian radio station Saturday.

“Consequently, I am waiting for his endorsement and the backing of the March 14 parties, because Hariri represents an important political force in Lebanon, and a heavyweight in Parliament and on the streets,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said Lebanon has a rare chance to elect a “made in Lebanon president” and reiterated its opposition to the renewal of Sleiman’s mandate.

“The Lebanese have an extraordinary opportunity to elect a president with a 100 percent Lebanese will,” Sheikh Nabik Qaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, told a rally in the southern village of Majdal Zoun.

“We strongly stand firm on the election of a new president and we reject any extension of the current president’s term. This is a final, known and irreversible stance,” he said.

“National interest, the sensitivity of the stage and the gravity of challenges call for the election of a president who can protect Lebanon’s identity, position and national role and who can be trusted to strengthen Lebanon’s position in confronting the Israeli and takfiri aggression.”

Source: The Daily Star

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Unofficial checkpoints removed ahead of plan: minister

BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said over the weekend that unauthorized checkpoints in the Bekaa Valley were removed ahead of the expansion of the government’s new security plan to the area this week.

“There are no longer unofficial checkpoints along the road to Arsal and all unofficial armed forces are no longer present in the Baalbek-Hermel areas,” Machnouk said in a statement, referring to Hezbollah checkpoints set up to curb the rise of car bombings in Bekaa Valley towns.

Hezbollah has taken measures in Hermel, Baalbek and other Bekaa Valley towns following a series of bombings targeting predominantly Shiite areas. The attacks were mostly claimed by radical groups fighting in Syria, citing the group’s role in the war-torn country.

Hezbollah’s security measures have angered nearby Sunni towns, particularly residents in Arsal who largely support the Syrian opposition, fueling tensions in the border region.

The National News Agency reported that the Lebanese Army took full control of a vital highway connecting Arsal to Baalbek- Hermel in the northern Bekaa Valley in preparation of the security plan and took over checkpoints set up by armed groups.

Machnouk said he contacted several local and official figures from Arsal and the Bekaa Valley town of Labweh as part of ongoing preparations ahead of the plan.

The Cabinet recently approved a plan drafted by the Higher Defense Council to restore stability to Tripoli, which has been plagued by several rounds of clashes between opponents and supporters of President Bashar Assad, as well as Akkar and the Bekaa Valley.

The measures include heavy deployment in conflicts zones and pursuing wanted individuals. The security plan was first implemented in Tripoli starting April 1, and the Army, along with the Internal Security Forces, has so far arrested over 100 suspects.

Speaking after meeting with Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki late Saturday, Machnouk spoke of the plan’s success in Tripoli, saying the capital would also witness similar measures.

“We affirm that the security plan is going as planned with the support of the president, the prime minister and the courage of the Army,” Machnouk told reporters.

“We are all fully responsible for the failure or success of the plan which has so far proven to be a success,” he added.

“Implementation of the plan in the northern Bekaa will soon begin and they will end in Beirut. We will end violations against the Lebanese, their security and livelihood particularly in light of repeated abductions [in the Bekaa],” he said.

Source: The Daily Star

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Salam wants “moderate” president

BEIRUT – Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that he wants Lebanon’s new head of state to be a consensual president.

“I prefer that a moderate and poised person who is accepted by everyone and can deal with everyone would run for president,” Salam said on Saturday during an interview on Radio Monte Carlo.

The premier’s comments came a day after the Lebanese Forces announced that the Christian party’s leader, Samir Geagea, would seek the office of presidency.

LF deputy leader MP George Adwan said in a press conference Friday that Geagea’s candidacy would put an end to “the habit of choosing neutral candidates who have no political stance.”

Lebanon is set to elect a new head of state prior to the end of President Michel Suleiman’s mandate, which expires on May 25, to avoid any presidential vacuum.

The constitution stipulates that between March 25 and May 15, the parliament can convene at any time to elect a new president.

If it has not done so by May 15, the parliament will be considered automatically in session for the following 10 days, in which a new president must be elected.

Meanwhile, the prime minister stressed that the Lebanese government is adamant about the dissociation policy “because it is the best policy.”

He added that the “deteriorating” security situation in the country “reached an unacceptable level.”

Salam then highlighted that controlling security is Lebanon’s “priority” given the economic prosperity that stability will entail.

“If security becomes stable, the economy will recover. If security is restored, the economic activity will be revived, and this is what we hope for.”

“But this will take time,” Salam added.

 

Source: Now Lebanon

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Parliament wage hike talks spark shouting match

BEIRUT: Parliament’s joint committees decided to hold further talks next week on a draft law to raise public sector salaries after failing Friday to agree over revenues and proposed taxes that would cover the increases estimated to cost the government over $1.6 billion annually.

The committees’ meeting, attended by 37 lawmakers and chaired by Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, came against the backdrop of a threat of escalatory measures by the Union Coordination Committee if the salary scale bill was not approved soon. The UCC represents public sector employees and teachers.

With the presence of Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, lawmakers from the March 8 and March 14 parties discussed for more than five hours articles pertaining to finding sources to finance the salary increases, and they are expected to continue Monday.

Khalil said all parliamentary blocs were unanimous in agreeing that the public sector salary scale was a rightful demand that must be met soon.

“We did not hear during the discussions different viewpoints. It was made clear that the salary scale is a right that should be approved as soon as possible,” Khalil told a joint news conference with MP Ibrahim Kanaan after the meeting.

However, Khalil, who belongs to Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc, stressed the need for all parties to search for financial resources to cover the overall cost of the salary scale, which he estimated to be LL2,765 billion ($1.843 billion).

“It’s not a problem of figures, but a case of choices that need to be answered. There was a discussion about sources of financing,” he said.

Kanaan, head of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, said revenues were important to finance the salary scale.

“There were two draft laws: one for the salary scale and the other for financing it,” he said. He added that progress was made in articles pertaining to finding revenues through proposed taxes.

Despite agreement among lawmakers that the salary scale is a right for public sector employees and teachers, sharp differences emerged during the meeting mainly between Khalil and Kanaan over the revenue figures, to the extent that journalists sitting in a nearby room heard shouting in the Parliament hall.

The disagreement erupted when discussion began over the state’s estimated revenues from dues on building licenses. The government’s draft law estimated the revenues at LL700 billion, while a subcommittee headed by Kanaan put it at LL600 billion, and Khalil estimated LL75 billion.

When Kanaan told Khalil that the LL75 billion was not correct, the latter responded: “Am I a liar? You are impolite.”

The spat between Kanaan and Khalil led to shouting and commotion that lasted about half an hour.

At one point, Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah and MP Alan Aoun stepped out of the Parliament hall and met briefly in a room, after which Aoun asked Kanaan to remain calm and avoid a problem with Khalil.

MPs from Berri’s bloc also intervened to pacify the situation, which eventually led to a joint news conference held by Khalil and Kanaan.

Meanwhile, Hanna Gharib, head of the UCC, warned of an open-ended strike should Parliament fail to approve the salary scale proposal.

“Any postponement to approve the salary scale will lead to further escalation, including a strike, a sit-in, even an open-ended strike and a boycott of official exams,” Gharib told reporters after meeting Makari.

Civil servants and teachers staged a general strike Wednesday in protest of Parliament’s delay in passing the salary scale bill.

Source: The Daily Star

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Conciliatory Geagea enters race for president

MAARAB, Lebanon: The Lebanese Forces nominated its leader Samir Geagea to run for the presidency Friday, in the opening salvo of what is set to be a contentious race.

The announcement came after a one-hour extraordinary meeting of the LF’s leadership in Geagea’s leafy mountain fortress-like residence at Maarab, north of Beirut.

“The executive committee of the Lebanese Forces decided unanimously to nominate the party’s leader Samir Geagea for the Lebanese presidential elections,” LF MP George Adwan announced at a news conference after the meeting.

Geagea, whose followers refer to him as “Al-Hakim,” a word that means both ‘the doctor’ and ‘the wise one,’ is the first political heavyweight to announce his candidacy.

In a speech before the vote, Geagea said that Lebanon was at a crossroads after the “continuous deterioration” of its security and economy.

“Lebanon’s image abroad was hit and confidence in it has been shaken,” Geagea said, addressing dozens of party cadres, MPs and officials.

“Lebanon’s borders are no longer clear due to its widespread penetration by armed groups coming and going to fight in Syria,” he added. “The state’s sovereignty has been widely violated by illegitimate arms in the interior.”

Lebanon has witnessed a spate of security incidents, clashes and attacks linked to the Syrian war. Radical groups that have claimed responsibility for the attacks targeting areas associated with Hezbollah often cite the party’s intervention in Syria as the grounds for their operations.

The LF sought to portray Geagea’s candidacy as a radical step needed to “shock” the country toward recovery. The party also said that Lebanon needed a strong president with a clear position on the key issues facing the country, rather than a bland consensus choice selected by foreign patrons.

Adwan said that previous presidents were often chosen by foreign leaders, were not independent, or lacked “color, smell and opinion.”

“The nomination of Dr. Geagea is to break this model and to say that the time has come for the Lebanese to choose a president made in Lebanon who has clear opinions,” he said.

Geagea’s persistent and vocal criticism of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria raises questions about his ability to garner enough support from across the aisle to propel him to the presidency.

His announcement also pre-empted the March 14 political bloc’s deliberations on who to back in the presidential race.

President Michel Sleiman’s six-year term ends on May 25. The two-month constitutional period in which Parliament must convene and elect a new president started last month.

Geagea, 62, is a staunch critic of Hezbollah, Iran and the Syrian regime, and is also a key pillar of the Western-backed March 14 coalition.

He hails from the north Lebanon village of Bsharri, and became the head of the Lebanese Forces in 1986, when the group was a militia. He was arrested in 1994 over his suspected involvement in a bomb attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church the same year.

He was also sentenced to life imprisonment over his alleged involvement in the assassination of Prime Minister Rashid Karami in June 1987 and was not released until July 2005, when Parliament passed an amnesty law.

Karami’s nephew, former minister Faisal Karami, called Geagea’s nomination a “black day” for Lebanon that showed what he described as the country’s “moral decline.”

LF MP Fadi Karam hit back at Karami, claiming he sought to relive the “black days” of Lebanon’s history and condemning his support for the Syrian regime.

Geagea refused to share power with Hezbollah in February in Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s “national interest government” due to the party’s involvement in Syria.

But in a sign of a softer tone toward his rivals, Geagea refrained from naming Hezbollah in his opening speech, and described as a “positive step” the statement by his potential rival, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who said he would not run if Geagea was nominated for the presidency.

He also praised Hezbollah Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Fneish after a statement by the latter saying it was Geagea’s right to run for presidency.

“When Hezbollah takes the decision to abide by the Constitution and the laws and build the state, the LF and its leader will meet with them and join hands to build the state,” Adwan told reporters.

But responding to skepticism from reporters who questioned whether Geagea coordinated his announcement with the rest of the March 14 bloc, the LF expressed confidence that their allies would back Geagea.

Adwan said that March 14 leaders had long been aware of Geagea’s candidacy and that he had unrelentingly championed the alliance’s principles.

“It is natural that he would be nominated on behalf of March 14,” Adwan said.

In the first reaction by a March 14 official, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari hailed the nomination of Geagea, describing his chances of winning the support of the rest of the March 14 coalition as “very high.” Speaking from Parliament, he said: “Geagea is certainly a key figure in March 14 and he has all our respect and love.”

But in an indication that Geagea will face additional hurdles before securing the bloc’s nomination, Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb hinted in a TV interview that he may also run for the post.

In an appearance on LBC, Harb said that if he were to run for presidency it would be on a platform of “rebuilding Lebanon,” but insisted that the March 14 alliance should only nominate one candidate.

Earlier in the day, Future MP Ahmad Fatfat also said the bloc had not yet decided on its nominee.

Salam called for a “made in Lebanon” president, saying in an interview that his government would work to create the “right atmosphere” for the presidential election to be held.

“I hope the next president will be purely Lebanese-made as was the national interest Cabinet,” Salam said in an interview with General Security magazine that is set to be published Saturday.

“All regional and international forces that affect Lebanese affairs support electing a new president,” he said, adding that the election would create political stability.

“We are looking forward to this constitutional deadline and we do not want any vacuum in the presidency,” he said.

Source: The Daily Star

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Syrian ambassador denies execution of Lebanese captives

BEIRUT: Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali Friday dismissed reports that Lebanese prisoners who were kidnapped during the Civil War were still being held in Syria, suggesting that questions about the allegations would only be settled by “fortune tellers.”

Asked to comment on reports that families and relatives of the alleged Lebanese prisoners had proof that their loved ones were in Syrian jails, Ali said: “Probably, fortune tellers can have the answer.”

He also scoffed at leaked documents claiming that hundreds of Lebanese who were held in Syrian prisons had been executed.

“This talk is ridiculous. It is untrue and baseless in the first place,” he said.

Ali spoke to reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to discuss the plight of Syrian refugees, a day after the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees registered the millionth refugee in Lebanon.

An estimated 600 Lebanese were kidnapped during the 1975-90 Civil War and are believed to be held in Syrian prisons. Syria’s army was present in Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.

The families of the prisoners have demonstrated and staged sit-ins in Downtown Beirut in the past, demanding that the government work with the Syrian authorities to determine the fate of their loved ones.

A nongovernmental organization, Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile, has been formed to follow up the case of Lebanese detainees in Syria.

The Syrian regime has long denied holding Lebanese prisoners, after releasing a number of detainees in the past.

Ali said Bassil raised with him the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syria.

“This question has been previously repeated and the Syrian government responded that Syria had cooperated with the Lebanese government and Lebanese national leaders, including General Michel Aoun and all the delegations that visited Syria,” Ali said.

“ Syria has been clear … and does not keep secrets on this issue.”

He claimed that some Lebanese who went missing during the Civil War had been killed by groups in Lebanon, though he did not identify them.

Source: The Daily Star

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LF announces Geagea’s candidacy for president

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Forces announced Friday its leader, Samir Geagea, as its candidate for the presidency.

“The Lebanese Forces Executive Body unanimously agreed to nominate party leader Samir Geagea for the presidential elections,” LF MP George Adwan said following a party meeting.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari hailed the nomination of Geagea, describing his chances of winning the support of the rest of the March 14 coalition as “very high.”

“I am part of March 14 … and Geagea is certainly a key figure in March 14 and he has all our respect and love,” Makari said from Parliament.

Geagea has pledged to prioritize the controversial issue of Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria if elected to the post.

Earlier in the day, Geagea said the meeting at the LF headquarters in Maarab, north Beirut, aimed at discussing a decision “that will be a critical juncture in the history of Lebanon, since the situation in Lebanon is constantly deteriorating.”

Geagea also reportedly criticized Hezbollah without naming the party in his opening remarks.

“Lebanon’s borders are no longer clearly defined due to the wide-scale infiltration of armed groups back and forth to fight in Syria,” he said, according to the National News Agency.

The LF leader is a staunch critic of Hezbollah, Iran and the Syrian regime, and is also a key pillar of the Western-backed March 14 coalition.

He refused to join Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s “national interest government” due to Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syria crisis.

Geagea, 62, became the head of the Lebanese Forces militia in 1986. He hails from the north Lebanon village of Bsharri.

He was arrested in 1994 over his suspected involvement in a bomb attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church the same year. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment over his alleged involvement in political assassinations during the Civil War and was not released until July 2005, when Parliament passed an amnesty law.

Geagea says he was the target of an attempted assassination in 2012 in his Maarab residence, and has accused the Syrian regime and its allies in Lebanon of being behind the killings of political figures in the country.

Source: The Daily Star

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Central Bank governor not seeking presidency

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said that he would not run for president, although his name was being circulated in the media for the presidency.

“Having one’s name suggested for the presidency is different than running for president, because the latter means that the person is seeking the post,” Salameh told An-Nahar newspaper in remarks published Friday.

However, Salameh said electing him as president would not require any amendment to the constitution.

He also noted that he would prefer staying outside the limelight in order to “keep the Central Bank away from politics and political exploitation.”

The Central Bank governor said that extending President Michel Suleiman’s term would cause economic losses to the country.

“Based on previous experiences, the extension of the president’s term in general causes a big economic and financial cost.”

 

Source: Lebanon Now

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Sleiman launches long-awaited bill to decentralize government

BAABDA, Lebanon: President Michel Sleiman officially launched a draft bill for administrative decentralization Wednesday, arguing that the new legislation would promote national unity in Lebanon as well as transparency and accountability.

Called for in the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the Civil War, the legal reforms aim to redistribute the authority, responsibility and financial resources needed to provide public services among a wider variety of levels of government.

“Administrative decentralization provides balanced development and strengthens national unity and diversity in Lebanon without obstructing federalism or any kind of partition,” Sleiman said to a large gathering of ministers and ambassadors at Baabda Palace.

He also said the bill provided “transparency, accountability and monitoring, bringing the citizen closer to holding accountable those he has elected,” describing it as of equal importance to the electoral law and the budget law, since it affects both.

He expressed hope that the law would be passed by the Cabinet before the end of its term.

When Sleiman was elected in 2008, he vowed to bring in the decentralization law during his tenure, making it a key part of his election platform.

The bill, prepared by a committee headed by former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, contains 147 items and prioritizes the powers and rights of the municipalities, particularly with respect to financial autonomy.

The aim is to create an elected council in each of the country’s 25 qadas with wide-ranging financial and administrative powers. This would comprise a popularly elected general committee, whose number of members would be based on the qada’s population up to a maximum of six, and a 12-person board of directors chosen by the general committee. A specialized independent body would organize the councils as well as oversee the elections.

As long as they fulfill certain criteria, any individual aged 21 or over would be able to run for council, a significantly lower minimum age than for national elections, which require potential candidates to be at least 25.

The board of director’s main role would be to take care of the yearly budget and development plans for the qada. The general committee’s purpose would be to oversee the board of directors, but the latter would retain executive power concerning all public matters.

Citizens would be able to oversee the work of the council and would have the power to file objections to its plans and projects.

The plan would also involve removing the current qaimaqam position, transferring his powers to the council, and would replace the independent municipality fund with a decentralized fund.

In the capital, a special Beirut council would be formed with a general committee of 72 members and a 12-person board of directors.

The bill also calls for the voting age to be lowered from 21 to 18, which would require altering Article 21 of the Constitution.

The legislation is intended to make sure all state departments are represented within the country’s qadas in order to ease citizens’ administrative paperwork and better address their needs.

The decentralization bill will not, however, abolish the central government and its commitments toward qadas regarding infrastructure, education, health and transportation.

According to Sleiman, the bill would improve citizens’ participation in democracy, which he said was not currently being practiced properly. It would also allow youths to participate at a deeper level than just the general elections and would allow for the greater involvement of women in the decision-making process, something he said was lacking within both Parliament and the Cabinet.

“Partnership between the private and public sectors is important, and it [the bill] promotes employment opportunities for the youth, which curbs migration and brain drain and reinforces the economy,” Sleiman said. “Villages will regain their sons scattered abroad.”

He also noted the importance of security, which he said would be bolstered by the decentralization law by the creation of a qada police force with its own training center.

“This is a serious project and this police [force] will have the capacity of law enforcement officers, and this will greatly help in maintaining security,” the president said.

Sleiman also voiced hope that future oil revenues would play a role in promoting the decentralization fund, the goal of which is to fund and develop qadas and municipalities.

“Let us make the electoral occasions ones of joy for the Lebanese and continue the application of the Taif Accord through the creation of a senate and develop a parliamentary law, and abolish political sectarianism with the will of all Lebanese,” he said.

At the palace, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk lauded the bill, which he said “ensured commitment to the Constitution and the Taif Accord” and was “a standard of criteria for evaluating the modern state and society.”

The Daily Star

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Cabinet fills key vacancies, appoints oil committee

BEIRUT: The Cabinet made 10 key appointments Wednesday, including the police chief and the state prosecutor, and formed a ministerial committee to study the designation of Lebanon’s offshore blocks for oil exploration.

The government appointed Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous as director general of the Internal Security Forces after he served as acting director general.

Acting State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud also became a full-fledged state prosecutor.

The breakthrough in appointments came two days after a stormy session over the issue and is expected to pave the way for filling the scores of vacant senior posts in the public sector.

The government, which convened under President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace, also appointed Mansour Daw as governor of the south, Faten Youness as director general of political and refugee affairs in the Interior Ministry and Judge Ahmad Hamdan as head of the Court of Accounts.

The Cabinet renewed the term of Kamal Hayek as a director general of Electricite du Liban and appointed Habib Merhi a general inspector at the Health, Agricultural and Social Inspection Department at the Agriculture Ministry.

Hanna al-Amil became the director general of the Sugar Beet and Cereals Department and Lana Dargham the director general of the Lebanese Standards Institution.

It also appointed Johny Abu Fadel as the director general of the National Employment Organization.

Wednesday’s appointments were divided equally between Muslims and Christians.

The ministers then listened to a presentation by members of the Petroleum Administration on dividing Lebanon’s territorial waters into blocks and on the specification book that companies should satisfy to be awarded tenders for offshore oil and gas exploration.

The government formed a ministerial committee to study the issue and present the Cabinet with a report at a later session.

Chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, the committee is comprised of Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel, Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk, Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

The designation of offshore blocks for oil exploration has been a source of contention between Speaker Nabih Berri and Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement.

The speaker has called for auctioning off all of Lebanon’s 10 blocks to bidding companies in one round in order to prevent Israel from exploiting any of Lebanon’s blocks near its borders.

But the Petroleum Administration has named only five blocks, a move supported by Bassil, who argues that approving all the blocks for drilling in one batch is not a transparent act.

The Cabinet was briefed by Moqbel and Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk on the security plan the Lebanese Army began implementing in Tripoli Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after the session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said the Cabinet stressed that the plan was permanent and that its implementation had proven that the Army and the ISF operate with high levels of coordination and were able to relieve residents of Tripoli. Tripoli has witnessed rounds of deadly fighting between supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and rivals in the mainly Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh since the start of Syria’s war in March 2011.

On his way to the Cabinet session, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi told reporters that the security plan in his home city of Tripoli was very satisfying.

“Bringing peace back to Tripoli is a challenge. It is important to see our children happy carrying their school bags again,” he said. “God willing, the atmosphere will continue as such and Tripoli will only be a city of coexistence and peace.”

Rifi did not rule out the possibility that he would visit Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, saying residents of both neighborhoods “are my people.”

Rifi said he planned to actively resume contacts with Hezbollah to protect the country, which he said was exhausted from Sunni-Shiite tension.

The Cabinet will meet again Tuesday.

The Daily Star

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