Introduction to the evening news 28-12-2011

It is a game of councils in Lebanon: The ministerial council is faltering on, what is now being called, the “Arsal issue” and so they have tossed this hot potato to the Higher Defense Council. The ministerial council is trying to keep its head above the deep waters of the wage hike issue and is reaching out to the Shura Council for help.

Between these two councils, the cabinet has begun a long vacation that will last until the 4th of January. The holiday will end with the first session of the new year to be held in the Grand Serail and followed by a second session on January 10th in Baabda Palace.  

The Arsal issue held center stage during the cabinet session, spurring a heated, albeit ill informed, dispute. In a bid to defuse the tension between opposing ministers, the issue was referred to the Higher Defense Council, which was invited to convene tomorrow.  

The most prominent issue that went unmentioned during today’s session was the offshore wealth decrees despite the insistence of speaker Nabih Berri. Berri warned that if the decrees were not tabled, he would call for a public parliamentary session in order to hold the cabinet accountable. However, it may seem that Mikati’s visit with Berri last night neutralized the situation and cooled down the speaker.  

The issue of securing the northern border was raised once again following the killing of three Lebanese men in a hail of Syrian gunfire.   From Akkar and the north, we return to the south where we witnessed yet another bombing of a tourist hot spot. An explosive device targeted a restaurant that serves alcohol and was advertising its New Year’s Eve party .  

On the Syrian front, the Arab monitors are expected to enter Daraa, Idlib and Hama later tonight. Their visit coincides with a campaign, launched in France, that criticizes the monitors and another campaign expressing the resentment of the Syrian opposition towards the Arab monitors.