Appointments of Top Civil Servants, Diplomats to be Tackled by Cabinet Next Week

The appointments of top civil servants and diplomats will be discussed by the cabinet next week at a session that will be headed by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“There is a thorough review for all the vacant administrative positions (in government institutions) in order to issue a comprehensive package,” Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s sources told the daily.

Miqati discussed the issue separately with head of Civil Service Council Khaled Qabbani and Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Tuesday.

Qabbani told An Nahar that “the administrative appointments are bounded by the mechanism set by the cabinet and the Civil Service Council has to abide by it.”

He stressed that the council’s jurisdiction doesn’t extend to the judicial appointments for being an independent authority.

A ministerial source told al-Liwaa newspaper on Wednesday that the appointments issue isn’t complete yet for the cabinet to discuss it.

On Tuesday, an agreement has been reached on appointing Judge Antoine Daher to head the Higher Judicial Council after ruling out Judge Alice Shabtini and Tannous Meshleb, according to al-Liwaa.

The post had been a point of contention between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

If that step was made, the other members of the HJC will be appointed, paving way for the trial of suspects arrested in the clashes between the Fatah al-Islam terrorist network and the Lebanese army in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007, al-Liwaa said.

However, former Minister Mario Aoun, who is close to the FPM leader, denied that agreement has been reached on the name of the HJC’s president.