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.
Imam of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque Sheikh Ahmad Assir
declared that he will work on improving his future movements, denying that the decrease
of his activities is a result of political pressure exerted on him.
In a statement to
Acharq al-Awsat Daily,
Assir also denied receiving any form of support from the Future Movement,
stressing that the latter has always stood against him despite convergence of
views regarding the support of the Syrian opposition and their position on
Hezbollah's arms. However, Assir accused the Future Movement of monopolizing the
Sunni leadership.
On the other hand, Assir denied holding any
dialogue with Hezbollah, noting that “he deals with his enemies with disregard
and arrogance”, reiterating his call for ending the "arms hegemony".
“When the attacks against us end, I will quit
politics and go back to my work in Islamic Call which I have been
practicing since 1988 on a daily basis, across the Lebanese regions,” he added.
Commenting on the Syrian situation, Assir
rejected the intervention on the field in Syria, pointing out that such an
intervention may harm the opposition and Lebanon, amid the current complicated
Lebanese situation. He stressed that the Syrian opposition does not need
militants, but needs funds and weapons.
Al-Hayat Newspaper quoted speaker Nabih
Berri’s visitors as saying that Berri stresses that the current majority, for
the exception of the head of National Struggle Front Walid Jumblatt, considers
the electoral law based on proportional representation as the only way to
ensure the majority of the Parliament’s seats; while the opposition seeks to become
a majority through dividing Lebanon in small electoral districts.
Berri noted that all the current electoral
calculations will lead to further divisions between March 14 and March 8,
stressing that the alternative formula lies in reproducing a political
authority through restoring equality between Christians and Muslims, which can be achieved by
electing 64 deputies according to the majoritarian system and another 64
according to the proportional system.
On the other hand, the daily reported that
Berri considers the Orthodox Gathering’s draft law as an expression of the Christians’
concerns, taking into consideration the events taking place in neighboring
countries.
On the other hand, a Parliamentary source stressed
that the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun misinterpreted Speaker
Nabih Berri’s position regarding the electoral law, mainly for supporting the
proposal which receives the Christians’ approval.
The source added that Aoun is seeking to
use Hezbollah’s pressure by making the party's representative support MP Alain Aoun is his positions without
expressing Hezbollah’s position towards other proposed draft laws.
In turn, the same source pointed out that
Hezbollah plays the role of the observer inside the meeting of the sub-committee, while its representative considered that the formula proposed by the representative
of the Development and Liberation bloc Ali Bazzi is serious and could be discussed. This
formula consists of holding the elections according to the
majoritarian and the proportional systems.
Parliamentary sources told
al-Hayat Daily that the member of the Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun, made his remarks upon a request from the Free Patriotic Movement, at the conclusion of the sub-parliamentary committees meetings.
MP Alain Aoun previously failed in his call to end
the sub-committee’s work, under the pretext that 6 members voted in favor of the
Orthodox gathering’s draft law while only 3 voted against.