Gharib Appeals for Unity to Confront Strife and Divisions on Historic Protest

Head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib sought on Tuesday to mobilize the Lebanese people for a historic protest against the government, saying the demonstration will be aimed at confronting strife and sectarian divisions.

“We will all be together on March 21 not just for the sake of the wage scale but for preserving national unity and civil peace,” Gharib said at a protest held near the Justice Ministry and Justice Palace in Beirut.

“Those who back the protests of the Syndicate Coordination Committee are against strife and confessional divisions,” said Gharib, who was inspired by calls for calm amid Sunni-Shiite tension over the assault on two Dar al-Fatwa clerics in the Shiite area of Khandaq al-Ghamiq in Beirut on Sunday.

“All of the SCC's protests were aimed at fighting strife,” he told demonstrators as the open-ended strike of the SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, entered its fifth week.

Gharib reiterated his call for referring the wage scale of the public sector -approved by the government last year -to parliament for adoption.

The protest will coincide with a cabinet session that will be held at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman on Thursday to discuss the establishment of the authority that would oversee the elections and the funding of the salary raise.

Last week, Gharib hinted that Prime Minister Najib Miqati put the two items on the cabinet's agenda to procrastinate on the approval of the funding.

A ministerial source told As Safir daily published Tuesday that if President Michel Suleiman insists on putting the controversial electoral committee at the top of the agenda then the approval of funds for the scale would be threatened.

“All the Lebanese people without exception should participate in the great march on Thursday near the Baabda palace,” Gharib said. “They shouldn't be afraid or hesitate.”

Gharib saluted civil servants and teachers, calling them “heroes” for being part of the SCC that is “fighting for equality.”

Gharib said not only civil servants and teachers at public schools will participate in Thursday's protest but also the teachers of private schools.

“All unions and syndicates should assume full responsibilities. No one will be able to shatter their unity,”he said.

Addressing Miqati, Gharib said: Don't yield to the Economic Committees ... Be with the people.”

The Committees, business leaders and owners of major firms, are warning that the government's decision to boost the salaries of public employees would inflict major losses on the public and private sectors.