DAILY SCOPE: No Parliamentarian Extension, Delay of Elections...Internet Scandal Surfaces Once Again

Local Editor

LEBANESE DAILIES:

AS-SAFIR:

Illegal Internet Scandal: Judiciary "Accused"!

Committee to Merge Gulf Economy: Settlement for Yemen, Military Choice for Syria

AN-NAHAR:

Combined Gulf Committee to Enhance Cooperation, Saudi Arabia Demands Sending Troops to Syria

AL-AKHBAR:

Stolen Internet: Who Funds The Remains of March 14?

AL-BINAA:

Idlib Battles Start...Ahrar Al-Sham Collapse..

Hariri Faces Crisis as He Goes Financially Bankrupt in Saudi Arabia and Loses Political Leadership in Lebanon

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Bkirki: Initiative of Electing Aoun for Two Years Non-Existing

AD-DIYAR:

Al-Osseiri Mediates for Reconciliation between Hariri, Rifi

Lebanese newspapers on Wednesday discussed the illegal internet scandal, which surfaced again after the end of the last round of municipal elections that took place on Sunday.

Also, the dailies discussed the waste management scandal, as garbage started to pile up again in the some areas of the Lebanese capital, and touched on the reactions and statements of some politicians in terms of the electoral law and the parliamentary elections after the joint committees held a meeting on Tuesday night.

AN-NAHAR: No Reason To Postpone Parliamentary Elections

Deputy Speaker MP Farid Makari told An-Nahar newspaper as he headed the joint committees session that the municipal elections proved that there is no pretext not to carry out the parliamentary elections which people are hoping to see take place.

Yet, he pointed out that the nature of the coalitions in the municipal and parliamentary elections are different, explaining "For instance, in Koura, my major alliance was with the Lebanese Forces and the Syrian Social Nationalist party, yet in case of the parliamentary elections, it is somehow difficult to see an alliance between the two sides."

Makari stressed the importance of changing the electoral laws whether those of the municipal elections or parliamentary, pointing out that the current electoral laws are 56 years old, a period during which the demographic and political combination changed a lot in the country.

In November 2015, 10-member committee was set up to meet over the span of two months in order for the country's major political factions to agree on a new parliamentary electoral law. The committee has been discussing a hybrid law because of the lingering differences over the 1960s and proportional representation draft-laws. The 1960s law will be adopted should the parties fail to agree on a new one.

AL-BINAA: Slow Investigations in Internet Scandal, No Permits to Carry Out Questioning

The internet scandal has surfaced once again after it was put away from the limelight during the municipal elections last month. According to al-Binna newspaper, sources from the parliamentarian committees said that the concerned authorities are carrying out investigations very slowly, especially in terms of how the mammoth-sized equipment entered the country.

The sources told the paper that the financial General Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim said he had ordered a permission from the Interior Ministry and the Internal Security Forces to question some chiefs of Police Stations, yet the two bodies did not issue a permit for the investigations to be carried out.

Earlier in March, sources said that there is a tough pressure is being made by political sides in Lebanon to bury the truth about the illegal internet scandal, in addition to attempts made to distort facts related to the case.

Head of the Parliamentary Media Committee MP Hassan Fadalallah had assured that there are strong attempts to change the path of the case and force it into political calculations in the country. yet, he underscored that in case of any error or shortcomings in investigations carried out by official sides, the committee will then announce all the given it has and let the public opinion known the whereabouts of the case.

AS-SAFIR: No Delay in Parliamentary Elections, No Extension

Back to the municipal and mayoral elections, House Speaker Nabih Berri told As-Safir newspaper that "The electoral process was successful in terms of organizational and executive standards," reiterating that "The coming parliamentary elections are inevitable and that there will be no extension to the parliament."

Berri added that "Even though I did not want to extend the term of the parliament in first place, but for covenanted reasons and in consideration to MP Saad Hariri's stance back then, I had to do so."

Most MPs voted to extend their own term in 2013 and again in 2014, over claims that holding legislative elections would have been difficult due to the tense security situation in the country at the time.

Following the first round of municipal elections on May 11, Berri ruled out the possibility of extending parliament's term for a third time, saying elections would take place within constitutional deadlines regardless of whether an agreement is reached over a new electoral system. Parliamentary polls were last held in 2009 and the next elections are scheduled for 2017.

Source: al-Ahed News