Thursday’s Strike, United Protest, Gov’t Cancels Diesel’s TVA
Bets fell.
With the withdrawal of American occupation out of Iraq and its continuous military crisis in Afghanistan, some Lebanese bets in Lebanon on US turned into a distant mirage.
On the internal front, political files open the country to all possibilities: Prosecutor of the International Tribunal Daniel Bellemare declared reluctance to renewal, while wage file swings the country between settlement and strikes.
However, the major constant is that the majority's coalition is stable and not to be affected by winter clouds or some delusions.
Bellemare Not Seeking another Term:
Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
With the calendars last papers falling announcing the end of the year, the US gathers up its remains from Iraq declaring an unprecedented military defeat parallel to the fall of major strategic projects in the region.
On Wednesday, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare informed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would not seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of February 2012.
As the tribunal's website announced that Bellemare's decision of leaving his post is due to health reasons, STL President David Baragwanath praised Bellemare's work by saying that "he has undertaken a difficult job with vigor and determination."
"Al-Akhbar" Lebanese daily commented on the issue by saying: "after the death of its President Judge Antonio Cassese last October, the STL received a new blow resembled the resignation of the Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare for health reasons."
Noting that this is the fifteen resignation in the STL, doubts are raised on the efficiency of this institution suffering every now and then from successive illnesses and resignations.
Strike, Protest Rejecting Wages
At another level, livelihood issues are on the top of Lebanese scene.
Hundreds of Lebanese public and private schools closed its doors Thursday as the "Syndicate Coordination Committee" decided to strike rejecting the wage decree the government implemented last week.
"As-Safir" newspaper reported that "teachers' and workers' demonstration will head towards the Grand Serail at 11:00 am to refute the government's approval of what the SCC described as "humiliating wages decree"."
Mentioning that most Lebanese political parties from both the majority and opposition support the workers' demands, "as-Safir" informed that "representatives from "March 14" and as well as the majority's educational offices held a meeting at the Progressive Socialist Party headquarters and agreed on participating in the rally."
"AMAL, Hizbullah, Free Patriotic Movement, Phalange Party, PSP, Lebanese Forces and Future movement as well as several others supported the stike," the paper clarified.
Gov't Cancels Diesel's TVA
Meanwhile, the government approved Wednesday the request of Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil of cancelling VAT tax on "diesel" red gasoil.
Following the ministerial meeting at Baabda palace, Information Minister Walid Daouq announced that the decision will be put into effect starting Monday.
"The VAT cancelling decision is permanent as the issue requires a law to be drafted," he added noting that "that's why the mechanism will be adopted until the law is issued."
"What happened is an achievement after the battle that we fought since 2008," Minister Bassil said after the session hoping that "owners of electricity generators, which work on red diesel, would lower their prices after the government's decision."
In remarks to "al-Jumhuriya" newspaper, Bassil stressed that "the benefits of this decision are countless: most important is the regulation of the generator fees, which must be reduced by 10 percent."
The government also discussed Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi's 2012 draft state budget but postponed deliberations on the issue until the next session after many ministers expressed reservations at his proposal to increase VAT by 2 percent to reach 12 percent.
"As-Safir" also learned that "some ministers refused to raise the prices of gasoline by 1 dollar, saying the citizens can no longer suffer from economic and social burdens."
Parliament's Verbal Fight
At another level, Lebanese Parliament witnessed Wednesday a high debate during the question- answer session.
A fierce verbal clash between "Loyalty to Resistance Bloc" MP Nawaf Moussawi and "Phalange" MP Sami Gemayel took the attention.
Waging a verbal attack on the resistance's communication net work, MP Gemayel criticized what he called "Hizbullah illegal excavation and installation works," claiming that "what is taking place resembles a security violation to the Lebanese territories."
Replying to Gemayel's false accusations, MP Moussawi stressed that "this resistance is Lebanese, and it carries a clear identity."
"When it talks about the increase of its defense, the resistance announces that," he clarified noting that "since the invasion of 1982, there were some people in Lebanon who were part of the aggression, as they coordinated it with "Israeli" invaders."
Moussawi vowed that the "resistance will continue in this faith and we will give sacrifices," adding that "all governments that were formed earlier in Lebanon coincided that this resistance enjoys constitutional legitimacy."
"They adopted the resistance's approach," he emphasized.
Who asked you to protect us, we need to protect ourselves from the resistance," Phalange MP added.
"The resistance will act in the way it views as proper to protect Lebanon and the communication net work that the enemy attacked," Hizbullah MP confirmed addressing Gemayel by saying "we didn't hear you commenting on the subject."
"We don't seek protection from agents, we are able to protect ourselves, and you know your history," Moussawi stressed.
As the session continued, Berri tried to arrange a reconciliation meeting between Moussawi and Gemayel at his office in Parliament but his arrangements failed.
