Noticias

A panel established on Wednesday to devise a new parliamentary electoral law will hold weekly meetings in order to resolve a dispute that has resulted in the extension of parliament's term on two occasions.

The committee will hold its first meeting on December 1, revealed the daily An Nahar on Thursday.

Its discussions will continue until mid-March 2016, which marks the beginning of parliament's regular session.

The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday called for electing a president who would bring “change and solutions,” as it stressed that the electoral law for parliamentary polls must be “fair” for Christians.

“We are advocates of a change and solutions presidency,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The statement was recited by former labor minister Salim Jreissati.

Speaker Nabih Berri has called on the Parliament Bureau on Wednesday to form the committee charged with drafting a new electoral law within a two-month period, the March 14 alliance was informed according to al Joumhouria daily on Tuesday.

The committee will be charged with drafting the law and to find common factors within the existing laws within a two-month period.

El Líbano amaneció hoy en un día de luto nacional tras el atentado que sacudió ayer un feudo del grupo chií Hizbulá en el sur de Beirut y que causó al menos 43 muertos y 239 heridos, según los últimos datos del Ministerio de Sanidad.

Las banderas ondean a media asta en las administraciones y edificios públicos, mientras que escuelas, universidades e institutos técnicos están cerrados tras una decisión tomada en ese sentido por el ministro de Educación, Elias Bu Saab.

Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun stressed Tuesday that the electoral law must be put on the agenda of the upcoming legislative session, warning that his bloc will take “strong and decisive measures” Wednesday over the issue.

“The agenda is not limited to financial legislation, contrary to the agreement that we made when we discussed the legislation of necessity,” said Aoun after the bloc's weekly meeting, referring to the legislative session that will be held on Thursday and Friday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam will not step down from his post on Thursday, as media reports have been claiming in recent weeks, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.

It said that the premier “will not give up his political mission even if his personal interests lie in resigning.”

“Resignation however will not serve the country's interests, especially since the current government is not one of approving decrees, but one of managing the republic in the absence of a president,” his visitors told An Nahar.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri threw his support Monday behind Prime Minister Tammam Salam while stressing that Mustaqbal will not allow Hizbullah to “undermine dialogue.”

“Any Lebanese cannot but feel insulted by the scenes of the garbage that floated in Beirut's streets and the rest of the regions,” Hariri said in a statement released by his press office.