Press Digest for Sunday June 24, 2012

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.    

• Sources close to Suleiman: President working hard to prepare for “Baabda Declaration 2”      

Presidential sources told An-Nahar Daily on Sunday that work has been ongoing in the past few hours to prepare for the secret consultations carried out by President Michel Suleiman in order to prepare for the drafting of “Baabda Declaration 2” as a framework for the issue of weapons and their command.      

The sources said that Suleiman is showing the common grounds regarding the defense strategy, while details are kept to the concerned party i.e. the LAF.      
The sources added that preparing for this declaration emanates from the fear all political parties have of the gravity of what is happening in the region, adding “the president wants to embody the will of all political parties to stop strife.”       

• Electricity issue tops the agenda of Wednesday’s cabinet session        

An-Nahar Daily reported on Sunday that the agenda of the cabinet session that is expected to be held on Wednesday afternoon at Baabda Palace includes 74 items, most importantly the Energy Ministry’s presentation of the works of the technical committee in charge of the electricity-generating ships.        

In its report, the committee suggests approving the contract between the Ministry of Energy and the Turkish company “Karadeniz”. The project was legally studied at the international law firm, and was signed by the Turkish company, the newspaper added.         

The contract term is 36 months and includes two ships, one for the Zouk power plant and another for the Jiyeh power plant, in order to produce 270 Megawatts.        

• Sources from Zahle: Aoun’s visit failed to bring positive change     

Sources from Zahle told Al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday that the visit of Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun to Zahle failed to create a positive change that could benefit him or his Movement.        

The sources said that the problem was not limited to Elie Skaff; in fact, Aoun failed to fix his relation with Nicolas Fattoush, one of his allies in the March 8 bloc.   

• Bakradonian: We will not approve an electoral law drafted by Bkerke       

MP Agop Bakradonian told An-Nahar Daily on Sunday that if the current government resigns, Lebanon will witness a governmental void and will not see the formation of a national unity government.       

Bakradonian said that re-launching the debate on the issue of Palestinian weapons would aim at calling for the implementation of the reached recommendations, not at discussing the question of maintaining the Palestinian weapons inside or outside the refugee camps.       

Bakradonian added that he will not approve an electoral law drafted by Bkerke, adding that he endorses the proportionality law based on small electoral districts, meaning electing 3 to 4 MPs for each district.