Introduction to the evening news 13-12-2011

It is as if everyone in the region and in Lebanon has run into a wall. Rockets in the south that raised many questions and comments will not have a major impact on the climate, at least for the time being.  In fact, the international forces will remain and the concerned parties, such as Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Israel and the UNIFIL countries do not want to deviate from the current state of play.           

Domestically, the government’s lifespan will be prolonged thanks to local and Syrian needs as well as the fact that no suitable alternative exists. In fact, General Aoun’s ministers are back in step with the cabinet without changing the rules of alliances and the current alignments.  The opposition comeback runs into the current regional wall.           

As for the vicious wage issue cycle between the cabinet and the trade unions, it is also impacted by the intransigence of the prime minister who says that we cannot harken the days of the past given the current economic climate. While the GLC and the coordinating body insist that a strike is the only option. As for what remains of the political scene, parliamentary debates will take place at tomorrow’s Q&A session and discussions will be held on Friday at the broad Maronite meeting held at Bkerke dealing mainly with the electoral law.          

Not far from Lebanon, the Syrian issue is growing more complex and solutions are chasing their own tails. In fact, the Arab ministerial committee will convene in Cairo on Saturday to submit a draft resolution including steps that will be adopted by the Arab League to deal with the situation in Syria as the protocol between Damascus and the league was not signed.           
Meanwhile, the Arab League secretary general reiterated that the Libyan-style scenario of military intervention is absolutely out of the question, and that sending observers to protect Syrian civilians cannot happen without consent from Damascus.             

In parallel, Moscow intensified its rhetoric as minister Lavrov accused the West of not wanting to condemn the violence carried out by armed extremist groups against the legitimate authority in Syria, adding that the goal of these opposition figures is to create a humanitarian disaster, pushing for foreign intervention in the crisis. This Russian stance was taken simultaneously with the Bahraini King’s accusation that Syria trained opposition figures in his country.