Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat warned Prime Minister Najib Miqati that if the cabinet adopted an electoral law based on proportionality then this would lead to the collapse of the government, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday

Al-Liwaa said Jumblat refuses the proposed electoral law, threatening to withdraw his National Struggle Front ministers from the cabinet, if the parliament approved the draft law and the government adopted it.

The cabinet failed on Tuesday to approve a request from the social affairs ministry to allocate LL100 million to provide more humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees who have fled the deadly crackdown by the regime on protestors.

“The fund that we had asked for is not for refugees but for the centers of the social affairs ministry in the area of Akkar that is exerting the essential effort in the issue of the displaced,” Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour told An Nahar daily published Wednesday.

European Parliament members visiting Lebanon on Tuesday lauded “the efforts undertaken by the Lebanese authorities, their partners, the NGOs and the local population to provide assistance” to Syrians fleeing the violence in their country to Lebanon.

The parliamentary delegation comprises Veronique de Keyser, Member of the European Parliament and Vice President for Foreign Affairs of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S & D), and Ana Gomes, Member of the European Parliament and the foreign affairs coordinator of the S & D Group.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday the government’s ongoing practices, which it said have completely disregarded the people’s interests, most notably in the electricity file.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “It’s unfortunate that after all debate over this issue, Energy Minister Jebran Bassil reached the conclusion that an agreement on facts and figures is needed in order to base negotiations on leasing power-generating ships.”

U.N. human rights experts on Tuesday urged the Lebanese government to investigate the death of an Ethiopian housemaid, who committed suicide a few days after she was beaten by a man in Beirut.

Alem Dechasa, 34, hung herself with a bed sheet on March 14 at a psychiatric hospital east of Beirut, where she had been taken by police after the February beating that was aired on Lebanese television.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that a final agreement with companies on leasing power-generating vessels has not been reached yet.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “Prime Minister Najib Miqati is responsible for any delay in the electricity file.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat praised on Tuesday the residents of the northern region of Akkar for their support of the displaced Syrians who have sought refuge in the area.

He condemned attempts “by some authorities in power” to link terrorism to Akkar.

Syrian authorities thwarted on Monday night the infiltration of an “armed terrorist group” from Lebanon into Syria, reported SANA news agency on Tuesday.

It said that the group was attempting to enter Reef Homs in Syria from northern Lebanon.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam, who was convicted of collaborating with Israel, was released from jail on Tuesday after the prison year was reduced to nine months.

The National News Agency reported that a white Jeep Infinity transferred Karam from the military police prison in al-Rayhaniyeh near the Defense Ministry.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath informed President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the trials will kick off before the end of the year, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, Baragwanath expressed relief over the work of the STL, praising the Lebanese authorities’ cooperation with the court.