Proposal of New Name for Higher Judicial Council Expected to Resolve Appointments Crisis

The thorny issue of appointments seems to be fading away as the cabinet will tackle the subject during its upcoming session at the Baabda Palace, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily reported that head of the Higher Judicial Council will not be from the previous disputed names, as officials sought to choose a name other than those proposed by President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

Suleiman and Aoun have been at loggerheads over the appointment of civil servants in posts reserved for Christians. The main point of contention is the head of the Higher Judicial Council.

A ministerial source said that the judicial appointments will be set in a one package.

The report came in light of a meeting held at the Baabda Palace on Sunday between Suleiman, Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

The meeting was surrounded by secrecy; however, local newspapers reported that the meeting “went well.”