Govt. Approves Diplomatic Appointments as Aoun Urges Improving State Revenues

The Cabinet on Thursday passed long-awaited diplomatic appointments as President Michel Aoun called for “improving the state's revenues” in the wake of parliament's approval of a new wage scale for civil servants and the armed forces.

Ambassador Hani Chmaitelli was appointed foreign ministry secretary general, Ghadi Khoury was named as the ministry's director of political affairs while Ambassador Kanj al-Hajal was appointed as director of administrative and financial affairs.

As per protocol, the names of the appointed ambassadors will be announced upon receiving approval from the nations that they are allocated to.

President Aoun opened the session by commenting on the new wage scale, reiterating that “the state budget should have been approved before the wage scale in order to determine the revenues and the expenditure.”

“We should improve the state's revenues to prevent an accumulation of deficit and debts,” the president urged.

And calling for a “strict implementation of laws pertaining to financial inspection of firms, institutions and individuals, especially those who ask for loans,” Aoun also demanded “a strict implementation of Law 44 that forbids tax evasion and deems it a crime.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri for his part described the approval of the new wage scale as an “achievement” for the presidential tenure, the government and the parliament.

He also told Cabinet that he would raise Lebanon's Syrian refugee crisis during his upcoming visit to the United States, while reiterating that the thorny issue of returning refugees to Syria should be discussed with the United Nations.

“The U.N. would announce the appropriate date for the return of the refugees,” Hariri added.