Introduction to the evening news 17-01-2013

“I am not Artine…” this was Speaker Nabih Berri’s reply to his allies and enemies, by admitting that he is unable to do everything when each party is holding on to its position saying: “These are my limits…”                  

Berri said that the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal obtained the approval of the majority, pointing out at the same time that the majority is not enough, since he is looking for agreement and consensus. This means that the Orthodox draft law will not remain an option since it does not hold the requirements.            

Before Berri made his remarks, the President Michel Sleiman was recalling from Baabda the cabinet’s proposal, which contradicts with the Orthodox, as he said: “the ministers should not promote electoral draft laws other than the ones they voted for during the cabinet session.”          

President Sleiman responded to reports stating that he abandoned the Christian consensus, saying: “there is no Christian consensus, especially when the president was not consulted.”

Accordingly, head of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun replied to the President noting that the issue of the electoral law should not be undermined since it is a case of political rights, which is an approach subject to legal and constitutional texts.              

On the international level, Algeria followed Mali in going into chaos, where al-Qaeda linked groups held hostages leading the Algerian army to carry out operations that left several dead and injured among abductees and kidnappers.


All these developments and more in our detailed news bulletin