Sleiman urges joint parliamentary committees to respect election date

President Michel Sleiman called on the joint parliamentary committees on Monday to consider holding elections on time, in conformity to the principle of power rotation.

Sleiman rejected electoral projects that exacerbate sectarian polarization, contradict with the Constitution and jeopardize civil peace, calling for selecting draft laws that preserve national unity and coexistence.

In his words, the President deemed that the majority of the Lebanese people aspire to justice, freedom and equality and are committed to democracy, to which the voting process is based.

At another level, Sleiman received MP Ghazi Youssef with whom he reviewed the latest electoral law developments.

Separately, Sleiman met with LAF Commander General Jean Kahwaji. The talks between the two featured high on the security situation in Arsal.

Kahwaji briefed Sleiman on the security measures taken by the army to prosecute the suspects involved in the Arsal crime.

President Sleiman also met with Lebanon's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Micheline Abi Samra, who informed him on the latest information regarding the Burgas bombing.

On Friday February 1st, gunmen attacked an army patrol in the Bekaa border town of Arsal, killing Major Pierre Bachaalany and Adjutant Ibrahim Zahraman.

On Tuesday February 5th, the Bulgarian authorities said that two individuals with links to Hezbollah were involved in a bomb attack on a bus in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas that killed five Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian driver and the bomber on July 2012.