The following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that he will
not participate in the legislative session expected to convene later today,
refusing to be accused of hindering the session.
In a statement to
as-Safir Daily, Mikati said that holding a
parliamentary session with an open agenda and under a resigning cabinet means
that there is an imbalance of power, noting that such a session is
unprecedented and has never been called for, neither before nor after the Taef
Agreement.
This as Mikati stressed that he will not participate in any
parliamentary session should a decree to open an extraordinary session fail to
be issued, pointing out that he does not mind holding a session to extend the
mandate of Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Jean Kahwagi and Chief of Staff Maj.
Gen. Walid Salman. He added that in case the session failed, he will
consider drafting a legal decision which will allow keeping them in office in
order to prevent void in the military institution.
“I am a citizen just like all the Lebanese people, I am
worried about this situation,” he said calling on everyone to learn from the
experiences of the past and deploy strong efforts to prevent the country what he called a destructive war.
Lebanese Speaker Nabih
Berri stressed that the issue of the cabinet's blocking third has ended, noting that even
if the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun was granted five, six or
even seven ministers in the new cabinet, “there will still be differences between the two parties regarding internal issues.”
In a
statement to
as-Safir Daily, Berri disapproved March 14’s veto on Hezbollah’s
participation in the cabinet, stressing that this proposal is impossible.
“Do
they realize how dangerous their actions are?” he asked.
In this context, Berri warned against excluding Hezbollah
from the government, noting that it will lead to the destruction of Lebanon. He
reminded the other parties [in reference to the March 14 forces] that the Amal
Movement, founded by Imam Moussa al-Sader, stood against the exclusion of the the Kataeb
party from power in the past.
Speaker Berri revealed that he told Prime Minister-Designate
Tammam Salam that, due to the current situation, all parties need to be
represented in the new cabinet, reiterating his refusal of the exclusion of Hezbollah,
Aoun, the Future Movement or any other component of the Parliament from the upcoming government.
Caretaker Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud admitted that
the situation of the tourism sector is critical, but refused to describe it as
"disastrous".
Commenting on reports of job cuts taking place in several
touristic institutions, Abboud told
Acharq al-Awsat Daily that an employer
cannot lay off his employees during the tourism season, unless he is closing
his business, stating that the hotels outside the capital Beirut, mainly in Mount Lebanon, are facing a
major problem as they are working with a rate ranging between 10 and 15%.
On the other hand, the caretaker minister said that the
season may witness a growing activity during al-Fitr holiday in case the
security situation in the country remained stable during the upcoming weeks.
Caretaker Minister of
Youth and Sports Faysal Karami declared that the events that took place in Tripoli and
al-Mina "have nothing to do with politics"; but they constitute an agreement over preserving the
political consensus by which the mayors of both cities Nader Ghazal and Mohamad
Issa were elected.
Karami revealed, in a statement
to
as-Safir newspaper that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had told him
in advance that he will not interfere in the municipal affairs in any way, and that he will entrust those close to him with making the appropriate decision.
He pointed out that
following the talks held between former Prime Minister Omar Karami and former
PM Saad Hariri concerning this issue, it has been agreed that the best choice in light of the current difficult
circumstances is putting the municipal consensus into
effect.
Al-Akhbar
Newspaper reported that phone calls were detected between a businessman from
Sidon very closely related to Ahmad al-Assir and a number of officers from
inside Ain al-Helwe refugee camp, alleging that al-Assir is outside Lebanon, noting
that he was speaking using a SIM card of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
It is noteworthy
that the aforementioned businessman acted as a mediator for the first time between MP Fouad
Siniora and caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on one hand, and
al-Assir on the other hand, in a bid to remove the first sit-in carried out by the
latter.