Mikati to Teachers: Committed to Salaries, Progress in Kidnapped Issue
Here is Lebanon where money and sectarian language dominate the scene.
The Northern Koura region was a sample of how a political by-elections turns into blackmail.
This comes as the Sunday's election brought no surprises except for the progress that the Syrian Social National party scored. However, as the curtains were closed, political forces are assumed to launch reading the points of weakness and strength in the book of results.
They will simply prepare for the coming 2013 elections after nearly ten months.
Koura Elections..SSNP Scored Progress
"As-Safir" Lebanese newspaper commented on the electoral scene by saying: "Pending the conclusions that the political parties will reach, we can say that March 14 won an election, but retreated in numbers compared to the result recorded in 2009."
It further mentioned that "as the March 14 candidate won with a 1245 difference from the SSNP candidate, the ratio of the difference between the last of March 14 winners and the first of losers in 2009 elections was 1600 votes."
"It is worth mentioning that the two elections have an approximately similar percentage of voting i.e. 47%," the paper clarified.
"As-Safir" also highlighted that "one important indicator that accompanied the elections, was a marked decline in the Sunni turnout from 2009 polls."
Based on Lebanese Forces electoral machinery, the daily reported that "some 3,500 Sunni voted Sunday compared to 4600 in the last elections."
"Moreover, the share of the LF candidate of these votes relatively educed compared to those obtained by the March 14 in the previous elections," it added.
For his part, Head of the LF Samir Geagea told "al-Jomhouria" daily that he is happy with the election's results.
However, Geagea said that he "is worried and that he needs to be sure of something."
In response to a question about whether he was concerned from the initial information that indicates that the Sunni community has given its votes equally between the two teams, Geagea replied: "I'm not sure; I want to double check the information."
Meanwhile, a ministerial source hailed the governmental performance during the long electoral day.
In an interview with "as-Safir", the source said: "What happened Sunday in Koura is a victory for the government in the first place."
"The cabinet has proven its impartiality and integrity," the source said and noted "this proves that it is able to organize 2013 parliamentary elections."
Mikati to Teachers: Resume Correction
Away from the elections, Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged the Lebanese teachers to resume the correction of the official exams.
"There is no justification or reason to suspend the correction of the official exams," Mikati told as-Safir. The PM also stressed that the government is committed to resolve the teachers' salaries issue.
"Based on this, I do not think there are any reasons to suspend the correction of the official examinations," he added.
According to the daily, the PM tasked Education Minister Hassan Diab to meet with the Syndicate Coordination Committee, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.
"The government is committed to the deal over increasing the teachers' salaries," Mikati said as he noted that "the council of ministers is committed to pass the salary scale in June and implement it at the beginning of July."
"If the parliament delayed the approval of the new salary scale for the public sector, we will separate the part related to the teachers, and we will refer it independently," Mikati confirmed.
Bassil: Oil Authority A Must
On another level, Energy Minister Gibran Bassil hoped that the government would swiftly approve the appointment of the Oil Authority employees.
In remarks to "an-Nahar", Bassil said "we should prepare for the second stage of process by issuing tenders for foreign companies to kick off oil exploration along Lebanese shores."
The minister ruled out that the government would face obstacles in selecting the names of the 18 candidates, who will be distributed on 6 posts.
"Their selection was based on the efficiency, the sectarian and political distribution, which would facilitate the process to find consensus on the names," Bassil added.
On the security level, "al-Akhbar" daily stated that "the first military investigating magistrate Riad Abu Ghida rearrested three Lebanese army officers in the killing of Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Abdul Wahid."
For its part, "an-Nahar" quoted parliamentary sources as assuring that "the case would be settled within the military institution."
Progress in Kidnapped Issue
On another level, the same daily learned that "there is progress in negotiations in the case of 11 Lebanese hostages kidnapped by Syrian rebels."
"President Michel Suleiman is following up on the issue through a senior security official," the daily highlighted.
It further revealed that "the President is likely to visit Turkey in the upcoming day or two if efforts are fruitful."
Source: Lebanese Newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
