Introduction to the evening news 12-02-2013

A volatile cabinet session is expected to be held tomorrow [Wednesday], since its agenda will be including time bombs that might be detonated any moment during the discussions:

The first bomb is that of the issue of telecom data. The Prime Minister demanded the data's delivery to the security apparatuses, while the telecommunications minister did not reply.

The PM then declared that this issue is among his responsibilities, leading MP Michel Aoun to say that the telecom data request is unconstitutional, stressing that there are neither powers nor responsibilities allowing such a move. Aoun's statement provoked Mikati who replied by saying that the Prime Minister is granted, by the law, clear and explicit powers which cannot be subject to interpretation.                  

It is noteworthy that Minister Salim Karam joined the debate by criticizing the Prime Minister, describing his statement as arbitrary and unacceptable.                           

The second bomb is represented by the file of forming the Electoral Supervisory Commission, an item rejected by the ministers of Change and Reform Bloc, Hezbollah and Amal Movement.                    

The third file is the issue of fuel oil smuggling into Syria, following several reports confirming the operations.                           

However, the time bombs seem to be not only limited to the cabinet session, but also present between MP Michel Aoun and the Future bloc, since the book "Ibra’a al-Mostahil" (Impossible Exoneration), launched by Aoun on Monday, has triggered a debate between the two sides. In this context, the Future bloc replied by stating that "Aoun's exoneration is impossible since he is a "power hungry criminal", and asking him: "Why does he always refuse to form a parliamentary investigative committee to look into the accounts of 1989?"  

Amid this charged atmosphere, a bright leaf appeared when the Supreme Council's advisory judicial body issued a decision stipulating that each Lebanese citizen that has omitted his religious affiliation from his civil status can sign a civil marriage contract in Lebanon, and that there is no legal hindrance to register the contract of Kholoud Succarieh and Nidal Darwiche in the personal status records.                  

In this context, President Michel Sleiman congratulated the committee's members, considering that this decision will pave the way for the establishment of a modern civil State.


All these developments and more in our detailed news bulletin

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