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.
MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed that the
Free Patriotic Movement has an interest in holing the parliamentary elections
on time.
Kanaan described the statements
launched by a number of Future bloc MPs regarding the possibility of delaying
the elections until September as a campaign led by the Movement in order to
justify its attempts to hinder the approval of an electoral law which can be
fair to the Christian community in Lebanon.
“If they really want to hold the
elections as they claim, they must be present at the Parliament today and agree
on any project that gives the Christians 64 deputies elected by Christians’
votes,” Kanaan told
al-Joumhouria Daily.
- Mikati: No raise in VAT rates
The second session of the economic dialogue is expected to be held today at
5:30 pm at the Grand Serail.
In this context, PM Najib Miakti told
An-Nahar Daily that no raise will
be added to the rates of Value Added Tax (VAT), noting that this proposal was rejected during
the previous session.
For his part, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahas expressed in a statement to the
Daily his relief toward the meetings, pointing out that an agreement over a
package of 22 procedures will give a boost to the economy.
Berri: No extension for sub-committee meetings if agreement fail
Sources reported to
al-Joumhouria Newspaper that Lebanese Speaker Nabih
Berri said that “the upcoming week will be decisive regarding the mission of
the parliamentary sub-committee tasked with discussing the hybrid electoral law
which combines the majoritarian and proportional systems."
In this context, Berri hoped that the discussions will reach an agreement,
stressing that in case the committee fails to settle the issue, the joint
committees will resume their work. He ruled out any possibility of extending
the work of the sub-committee, explaining that the two-week extension was given
following a decision issued by the joint committees.
Al-Akhbar Daily reported that the Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea will not attend the ceremony held to commemorate the
occasion of February 14 at Biel, for security reasons.
In this context, LF sources told the
newspaper that the Lebanese Forces will have a wide participation in the event,
since it has been insisting on the participation of all March 14 parties.
The sources added that the relations with
the Future Movement returned to normal, following a visit made by a delegation
from the Movement to Maarab.
A source from the March 14 coalition stressed that no matter the reasons, the visit made by Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai
to Syria cannot be accepted.
The sources said that the Patriarch went to Syria “like an
infiltrator”, after all the previous Maronite Patriarchs have refused royal
invitations to attend ceremonies in Damascus for being aware of the greed of
the Syrian regime for Lebanon.
“If we assumed that Rai has good intentions, isn’t he aware
of the bad intentions of the Syrian regime and how it will interpret his visit?
Isn’t he afraid that the extremists will consider his visit, implicitly supporting
the regime, as a direct threat to them?” the sources asked in an interview with
As-Safir Daily.