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.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri stressed that he will support the Christian factions if they reach agreement over
the electoral law.
Berri
refused to link the fate of the upcoming parliamentary elections to the Syrian
crisis and developments.
Separately, Berri told
As-Safir Daily that he refuses to give the parliament a deadline to reach an agreement
over an electoral law, stressing however the need to hasten the discussions of
the draft laws with the joint parliamentary committees. He added that,
following a vote on the proposals, the one with the majority of votes will be
referred to the public authority.
Berri noted that the
priority goes to the nature of the electoral system and the number of districts,
adding that in case the discussions lasted, it would be difficult to reach a
new electoral law. Accordingly, he warned against having to accept the 60s law
as a “fait accompli”.
Speaker Nabih Berri said
that some parties seek an electoral law which ensures them a parliamentary majority, allowing them to elect a President, a Speaker and a Prime Minister.
Former minister Tarek Mitri
expressed his enthusiasm to take office as a special representative of the UN
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya,
confirming that “he is not afraid”, since the UN ensures intensive security
measures for all those who work with the United Nations in post revolution Libya.
An-Nahar Daily quoted Mitri
as saying that the transformations taking place in the Arab world are a beginning of a
radical modification and an opening of a new page in the history of the region,
noting that these alterations require time to mature. Mitri said that two main
changes are worth mentioning: “the first is that the people took back their
freedom and will not allow anyone to deprive them from it through dictatorship;
the second is that they began to pave the way towards change through democracy”.
Mitri noted that Libya is a
special case which deserves special efforts, adding that it differs from Egypt
and Tunisia for its people aspire to live in a State of law as demonstrated by
the latest protests in Benghazi.
- Hezbollah, Amal support Orthodox gathering’s proposal
Sources told
al-Akhbar Daily that after the electoral law
became the trending political topic in the country, the Free Patriotic Movement
presented the “Orthodox gathering’s” proposal, by which Lebanon would be considered
as one district and every sect would consequently elect its own deputies. March 14’s Christian
parties informed the FPM that they are ready to accept this proposal if
Hezbollah and Amal agree.
Another source reported that Hezbollah informed its ally
that it will vote for this proposal at Parliament.
However, both sides decided to keep this decision away from the media so March
14 would not use it against the Free Patriotic Movement.
The same source declared that this decision reached Ain
el-Tineh which does not reject this proposal, noting that Speaker Nabih Berri
stressed that his bloc will vote for it, when it reaches his jurisdiction.
Al-Akhbar Daily reported that the sit-in held in solidarity
with the Syrian revolution and headed by Imam of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque
Sheikh Ahmad Assir in Tripoli on Sunday, was not given adequate attention from
the Islamic groups and powers in the city, whom instead boycotted it.
In this context, Islamic sources told the daily that
boycotting Assir’s movement was not for personal matters, but the decision came
because “he took a step that affected the nation, entering the city through
side doors and staging a movement without prior discussions with the city's dignitaries such as
Mufti Malek Chaar or other Islamic groups and movements”.
The sources denied the fact that Assir coordinated his visit with
the city’s official figures including Sheikh Salem Rafii, pointing that this
news was spread only in order to attract the public's attention.
According to the sources, residents of popular streets close
to the Future Movement were the only participants in Assir’s movement.