Lebanon Celebrates Army Day

After Lebanon experienced governmental and ministerial recession in the past era, the new government made the country enters a continuous workshop covering various domains.

As the Holy month of Ramadan knocks people's doors, this week is to witness both legislative and ministerial action including the adoption of a large number of projects, most notably an amnesty for some crimes, in addition to the issue of oil and maritime borders.

Maritime Borders: The Priority

The active week of political life begins Tuesday in the Council of Ministers which is supposed to discuss an agenda of 161 items. The political action continues on Wednesday and Thursday, in the parliament, which will examine 68 projects and proposed laws.

It is expected that the legislative workshop is to witness an end to the file of demarcation of Lebanese maritime borders.

"The Council of Ministers is to examine the file from outside the agenda," the Lebanese newspaper "al-Akhbar" quoted informed sources who stated that "the parliament would approve a framework for the law of demarcation the borders, in which one of the paragraphs is to contain the graph coordinates of the Lebanese maritime borders."

The concerned minister, Water and Energy Minister Gibran Bassil denied to "al-Akhbar" information that "the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad requested from him to allow Russian companies to handle drilling for oil and gas discovered in the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Lebanon's coast."

For his part, House Speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday "the committee formed by the government to establish a plan to demark the maritime borders of the exclusive economic zone will meet on Monday with Energy and Works parliamentary committee, as agreed upon with Prime Minister Najib Mikati."
"The committees will discuss a draft law prepared by MP Mohammed Qabbani to merge the government's vision with the parliamentary draft law," Berri noted to "as-Safir" daily.

The visitors quoted Berri as saying: "The draft law will be included on the parliamentary session agenda next Wednesday if it was accomplished, and if not, it will be postponed."

Berri added that "the parliament's full agenda makes it imperative to hold a weekly session until it finishes studying the draft laws," "as-Safir" reported.
Stressing that the parliament will hold a meeting every Wednesday, he told his visitors that "Ramadan Month will not be a month of rest, but it'll be the month of hard work on the level of both the government and the parliament."

Concerning the issue of demands to sack top security officials, "an- Nahar" Lebanese newspaper reported that "Berri is determined to hold those accountable without carrying out any vicious acts against the judicial and security apparatuses."

Army Day Celebration

Meanwhile, Lebanon celebrates Army Day on Monday as President Michel Suleiman is expected to stress in his speech on the importance of national dialogue and the adoption of an electoral law based on proportional representation.

House Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati will attend the parade along with high ranking state and military officials led by Army Commander Jean Kahwaji, who is also expected to give a speech.

On Sunday, Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn urged political leaders to "refrain from dragging the Lebanese Army into political bazaars," stressing that "tripartite cooperation among the army, people and resistance would guarantee the defeat of the world's most powerful armies."

"Strife is forbidden in Lebanon and tampering with the security of the nation and citizens is a red line that no one, irrespective of his ranking, can tamper with because the army's response will be severe," Ghosn added.

National Dialogue a Must

Media reports said Suleiman is expected to resume his invitation for national dialogue to resolve the country's problems and differences between disputed parties.

Expected to stress the importance of preserving security and stability which provide a healthy foundation for the government's work, Suleiman will most probably mention in his speech that an electoral law based on proportional representation that preserves the constitution is the best law for the representation of all Lebanese.

"Suleiman is expected on Tuesday to continue his consultations with top Lebanese officials to hear their viewpoints on his invitation for the national dialogue," "as-Safir" reported.

Ministerial sources told the daily that "the president will not yield until he achieves his objective of holding the talks at Baabda palace."

They warned that there would be more division among the Lebanese if they don't meet at the dialogue table. "It is unfortunate that there are differences and divisions over the issue of the maritime border demarcation and oil resources in the absence of dialogue."

Similarly, Berri emphasized in an interview with "al-Jumhuriya" that "dialogue serves the opposition more than it serves "March 8" coalition, which will have to discuss all topics the opposition suggests if they take part in the meetings."
In a parallel context, the same newspaper reported that Dar al-Fatwa will hold an extended meeting on Monday afternoon headed by Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.

"PM Najib Mikati and former PM Fouad Siniora will take part in the sit-down," said the daily, adding that "the meeting will address latest national and Muslim developments."

Source: Lebanese Newspapers