The following are summaries of today's major stories
published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for
content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views
expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.
PM Najib Mikati announced on Wednesday that he had signed the
wage adjustment decree two days earlier and referred it to the president who is
expected to sign it within two days to be officially issued.
Commenting on the deteriorating electricity issue and the
delay in the implementation of the energy ministry’s plan, Mikati told
As-Safir
that he has called the companies concerned with electricity-generating ships,
adding that it will take approximately one month to look into the performance,
productivity and costs of these companies.
As for the energy ministry’s plan, Mikati said that the World
Bank has agreed on the terms, adding that “we will prepare tenders and send
them to the tender department to decide on them.”
In a statement to An-Nahar, Mikati responded to declarations
that the cabinet’s survival is tied to the Syrian regime’s fate, saying that
the cabinet’s survival hinges on the country’s stability as he added that the
cabinet has managed so far to distance itself from the events in Syria.
Mikati voiced hope that the STL protocol issue be addressed
“calmly”. He added that he received a call from former PM Saad Hariri and that
he maintains contact with Future parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Sinora.“Let’s
look at things from a realistic perspective…no party can eliminate the others,”
he said.
Speaker Nabih Berri commented on the recent Arab initiative
for Syria as well as Lebanon’s position in this regard, saying that the
“self-distancing policy adopted by Lebanon at the Arab League has been proven
useful and it constitutes the optimal choice to avoid the country many problems.”
“Had Lebanon taken another path, the situation would not have
been the same today,” he added.
Commenting on the 8 million liters of red diesel oil
delivered, in one go, on the last eve of the subsidy period, Berri told
An-Nahar “I will call on the public prosecution to launch an investigation in
the case after we receive the Central Inspection Body’s report.”
In a statement to
As-Safir, Berri voiced surprise over “the
procrastination of the judiciary in the cases of several people detained in the
Roumieh prison without trial.”
Berri called for speeding up the judiciary works and trials
especially that “the financial situation of judges have been improved, allowing
them to devote their time to work.”
Former PM Saad Hariri’s visitors told
Al-Akhbar daily that
Hariri will come to chair the March 14 ceremony, adding that he insists on his
presence among the crowds and the sole deterrent would be a strict objection
from his doctor.
Sources from the Future Movement told the daily that, the
commemorative ceremony will be limited to Biel’s main hall due to the political
circumstances.
Well-informed sources told
Al-Liwaa daily that Change and
Reform bloc Leader MP Michel Aoun escalated his campaign against President
Michel Sleiman, voicing opposition to the appointments mechanism approved by
the cabinet.
According to the same sources, Aoun maintains that it is the
minister, and no one else, who should suggest the appointment of another
official for his ministry since only the minister will bear the responsibility,
noting that the mechanism implies that the minister suggests 3 names one of
which the cabinet approves.
Security sources confirmed to
al-Joumhouria daily that
tension escalated in the recent hours in the Syrian regions bordering Lebanon,
adding that the LAF resumed patrols along the border to prevent any
infiltration attempts and to stand ready for any emergency.
The sources also pointed out contacts between the MPs in the
region and the residents to ensure humanitarian response, confirming that the
transfer of injuries was carried out in this context with no other “political
interpretation.”