Introduction to the evening news 26-03-2012

While today witnessed three strikes, next week will witness a three-day strike. Today’s strikes are related to hospitals and trade unions; lawyers boycotted hearings to protest the government’s failure to appoint a chairman for the Higher Judicial Council, which is still stuck in a game of tug of war between Baabda and Rabieh.       

In healthcare, private hospitals will stop receiving patients covered by the National Social Security Fund for one week as of today.        

Meanwhile, physicians and workers at private hospitals rallied outside the Grand Serail when the decision to stop receiving patients was taken.         

Next week, the oil sector will hold a three-day strike in protest of the failure to amend the oil price chart.         

The two weeks of strikes come amid a tense governmental atmosphere. Despite today’s meeting at the Grand Serail, opinions are still swinging between electricity-generating ships and power plants. However, clouds will fade away tomorrow when Energy Minister Gibran Bassil holds a press conference to tackle this issue while the cabinet is set to discuss it on Wednesday.