Cabinet Forms Committee to Establish Electoral Authority

The cabinet formed on Wednesday a committee headed by Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi to study the establishment of the independent authority overseeing the elections.

“The committee includes two judicial figures,” Information Minister Walid al-Daouq told reporters after the session that was held at the Baabda Palace.

There are huge differences between cabinet members on the formation of the committee.

The Free Patriotic Movement, AMAL and Hizbullah reject its formation for being based on the 1960 law of the winner-takes-all system, while President Michel Suleiman insists on establishing it within the constitutional timeframe.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on Monday during a press conference that the formation of the authority is crucial no matter what electoral system the rival parties decided to adopt.

On the Arsal ambush that targeted an army patrol, Suleiman said during Wednesday's session that “procedures are ongoing to detain culprits and prosecute them.”

The information minister quoted Suleiman as saying: “The matter will not end before (offenders) are brought to justice.”

The patrol was ambushed earlier in the month by Arsal gunmen as it was hunting a man wanted for several terrorist acts, leaving two soldiers dead.

Since then, the military has set up checkpoints at Arsal's entrances, searching all vehicles entering the town and exiting it.

The president also tackled the increasing rate in kidnappings recently, considering that the matter “harms Lebanon's image.”

Al-Daouq said that Suleiman demanded the competent ministers to implement stricter measures in this regard.

Kidnappings increased recently across the country in exchange for ransom.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati called for a session on Tuesday at the Baabda Palace to tackle the new wage scale for public employees during an extraordinary session.

The procrastination of the government in finding sources to fund the new scale has deepened the gap with the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, which is accusing the government of negligence over its failure to meet their demands.

Concerning the controversy on handing over to security agencies the telecom data, which deepened the gap between Miqati and FPM leader Michel Aoun on Tuesday, al-Daouq said that the cabinet didn't tackle the issue.

Aoun lashed out at Miqati, saying he had no authority in the matter, and consider it unconstitutional.

Last week, the cabinet agreed that the matter falls within the jurisdictions of Miqati, which prompted the premier to refer Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, who is close to Aoun, a decision to hand over to security agencies the necessary telecom data according to law 140 of the wiretapping law, which specifies the protection of communication data.

Miqati slammed Aoun's statements later on Tuesday stating that “Article 9 of law 140 of the wiretapping law stipulates that each of the defense and interior ministers could be granted the right to intercept phone calls through written consent and the prime minister's approval in order to garner information aimed at combating terrorism and crimes against the state.”

Lebanon has recently witnessed several security violations after a sharp rift between the March 14 and 8 alliances over the revolt in Syria which began in March 2011.

Several areas across the country witnessed clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad gunmen, which prompted the security agencies to continuously demand to obtain the telecom data to arrest suspects and maintain stability.