Cabinet Appoints Baidoun, Agrees to Pave Way for Parliamentary Approval of Maritime Draft Law

Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet appointed Ghassan Baidoun as director of the investment authority at the energy ministry based upon the recommendation of Minister Jebran Bassil.

An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Bassil recommended appointing Baidoun, who is not a civil servant, although both Hizbullah and Amal movement had other candidates.

It quoted ministerial sources as saying that the government didn’t discuss the oil and natural gas issue and the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime border to pave way for parliament’s approval of a draft law during its two-day session on Wednesday.

Miqati and Speaker Nabih Berri have agreed to drop an emergency draft law on the issue so that the speaker would not have to propose it to the involved parliamentary committees which in their turn would refer to parliament’s general committee. Such a move is time wasting.

The cabinet would later issue a decree on the delineation of the country’s maritime border that would be integrated to parliament’s draft law.

The cabinet also approved to allot 31 million liras to the health ministry and approved 8 out of 10 items on the agenda linked to the energy ministry, including security follow-up to the implementation of a project to install high voltage electricity cables in the Ain Saadeh-Mansourieh area, which has drawn the condemnation of residents in the area.

The six-hour government session approved a proposal by Bassil to carry out official exams to appoint civil servants at the ministry.

Baidoun’s nomination is part of a long series of appointments aimed at filling vacancies in state institutions, among them is the post of caretaker director general of technical education.

Ahmed Diab is the only candidate for the post, al-Liwaa daily said, adding that he would be appointed when his name is listed on the cabinet’s agenda.