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.
In an
interview with
As-Safir Daily, National Struggle Front Leader MP Walid Jumblatt said that the era of the Orthodox
Gathering's proposal is over since President Michel Sleiman and March 14
officials rejected this draft law .
Jumblatt
added that this proposal urged the Future Movement to refuse the proportional representation
system.
According to
Jumblatt, the electoral law endorsed by the Cabinet should be amended in terms
of changing the distribution of parliamentary seats and the electoral
districts, pointing out that negotiations have kicked off to apply these amendments.
Jumblatt then
stressed that the elections should be held on their due time, affirming that
the formation of Senate may alleviate the minorities' concerns and pave the way
for the election of a non-sectarian Parliament.
"President
Michel Sleiman and I are adamant on the formation of an electoral commission to
oversee the elections and we will refuse any delay," Jumblatt said.
Al Joumhouria Daily published an article on Thursday stating that the
ministerial committee will receive on Thursday the final report prepared by the
Finance Ministry regarding the ranks and
salaries series' expenses, as well as the revenues.
In this
context, Finance Minister Mohamad Safadi told the newspaper that he will be submitting a
comprehensive solution to this issue, including the final figures of the income and the
expenses related to the pay scale.
Safadi added that
funding the scale could cost up to LBP 2.150 Trillion.
Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour told
Al Joumhouria Daily that all
promises given by donor countries to shelter the displaced Syrians are empty.
In this regard, Abou
Faour called for holding an extraordinary parliamentary session in order to
examine the living conditions of the refugees.
"Had we made the
decision one year ago to establish camps for the displaced Syrians, we would
have avoided today this hazardous situation. We could have followed the example
of Turkey and Jordan to monitor the refugees' influx and control it," Abou
Faour said.
Sources
reported to
Al Joumhouria Newspaper that during Wednesday's Supreme Defense
Council's session, President Michel Sleiman stressed that the Security Forces
should be firm while dealing with kidnapping gangs and must fight the aggression
targeting both the Security Forces and the UNIFIL troops.
The council was
briefed on the security reports submitted by the concerned Ministers and the security
apparatuses' commanders who discussed
all the latest developments, including the abductions in exchange of ransom,
the situation in South Lebanon in light of UNSCR 1701 and the Ain el-Helwe Palestinian Refugee Camp where
tensions are growing.
In addition,
the council discussed the security forces' reports tackling the reasons of the
incidents that took place on the borders with Syria.