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.
According to As-Safir newspaper PM Najib Mikati said that he is not worried about the current government, adding that the ministers will prove the productivity of their work to all those who are calling on the government to step down.
Mikati revealed that he has decided with the Minister of Finance not to include new taxes in the new budget plan as the current economic situation does not allow and it will be a burden on the Lebanese. Mikati asked “Did the head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun become the symbol of reforms?”
“If he wants to advance 1 meter on the reform path I want 1 kilometer, but we have to know that it doesn’t happen in one day” Mikati called all on political parties to cooperate in order to find a way out of the current situation and to close ranks to fight corruption, adding that he maintains a special relation with President Michel Sleiman as they both agree on almost everything.
Asked on the false witnesses file he said “We cannot neglect this file, but we have to keep it aside for the moment until were done with the judicial appointments”.
“I have very good relations with Hezbollah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah and other members in the Party; we might disagree on pending issues but nothing more than that”.
According to An-Nahar daily, the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riad Saleme said that he does not agree with Moodys latest classification for Lebanese banks as it was not based on any proper sources or clear evidences.
Saleme considered that the banking sector in Lebanon is very healthy as it is based on the Third Basel Conference Protocol, adding that until 2011 the banks experienced a 7% growth and it is expected that this growth will reach 12% by 2015.
“Downgrading our banks did not take into consideration the cash flow that the Lebanese banks have, unlike any other banking sector around the world”, An-Nahar quoted Saleme as saying.
“The Central bank rejects all these classifications, as we should all take into consideration the current political situation in the country and the region, not to forget the economic crisis that hit the world not a long time ago”.
Sources close to the Free Patriotic Movement told Al-Akhbar newspaper that everything was prepared in advance to fail the Minister of Labor Charbel Nahas’s proposal to the Cabinet regarding the wage adjustment issue.
The sources added that as soon as most of the ministers voted against Nahas’s proposal, a PowerPoint presentation suddenly appeared on a big screen installed previously for this purpose, containing the details of a written and printed proposal that does not require any discussion but a signature in order to be approved.
Al-Akhbar revealed that this alternative proposal came as a result of a series of meeting between the PM Najib Mikati and representatives from the economic bodies and Labor Unions for the last two weeks.
Syrian Opposition member Haytham Manaa told Al-Rai that the economic sanctions imposed on Syria either by the Europeans and the Arab League will have negative impacts on the Syrian people, calling on the international community to focus the sanctions on individuals only instead of the entire country as only figures of Assad’s regime committed crimes against humanity and other atrocities.
Manaa described the Arab League stances on Syria as being encouraging, calling on its members to establish an Arab Tribunal to protect civilians in Syria and trial all those who committed crimes and mass killings.
“We oppose Bashar Assad’s regime and policy, we are a poor opposition we sleep on the floor, we do not seek money nor power but a proper country to live in”, Manaa was quoted as saying.
Diplomatic sources told Al-Siyasa Kuwaiti newspaper that two reasons forced Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to raise the tone of his speech on Monday during Ashura commemoration in addition to his personal participation since 2008.
The sources said that Hezbollah’s leadership met on Friday to discuss Sayyed Nasrallah’s speech pronounced on Thursday in a response to PM Najib Mikati’s decision to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
On the other hand the second reason according to the sources goes back to the regional political factor as Hezbollah’s leadership received a briefing of the Syrian political situation and the current confrontation between Iran and the West from both Iran and Syria.