Lebanon's Cabinet Reviews Developments and Approves Majority of Agenda Items

The Lebanese Cabinet held its weekly session at the government palace, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Present were Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tarek Mitri and ministers including Finance Yassin Jaber, Culture Ghassan Salameh, Energy and Water Joe Al-Sadi, Tourism Laura Al-Khazen, Economy and Trade Amer Al-Bassat, Displaced Persons and IT & Artificial Intelligence Kamel Shehadeh, Interior and Municipalities Brigadier General Ahmad Al-Hajjar, Justice Adel Nassar, Telecommunications Charles Al-Hajj, Youth and Sports Nora Bayraqadarian, Education and Higher Education Rima Karami, Industry Joe Eis Al-Khoury, Labor Mohammad Haidar, Public Works and Transport Faiz Rassamni, Information Attorney Dr. Paul Marcus, Environment Tamara Al-Zein, and Public Health Rakan Nasser Al-Din.

Also in attendance were the General Director of the Presidency Dr. Antoine Chakir and the Secretary General of the Cabinet Judge Mahmoud Makieh.

Minister of Information

The session continued until 5 p.m. Following its conclusion, the Minister of Information provided the following official statement: "The Cabinet convened its weekly meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail, with attendance from several ministers. Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Administrative Development were absent.

The session focused on discussing political, security, and humanitarian developments, alongside reviewing several routine administrative and staffing items."

At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister stated: "Since the war imposed on Lebanon began, the Lebanese government has continuously worked to halt it and mitigate further harm to Lebanon and its people. Today, we hope the ceasefire agreement reached between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will end this war and stop the killing, destruction, displacement, and all the tragedies and suffering inflicted upon the Lebanese."

The Prime Minister added: "I can only sincerely thank all those who contributed to achieving this outcome. We will intensify efforts through ongoing negotiations in Washington to secure the full Israeli withdrawal from our lands and the release of our detainees. Just as the government mobilized all capacities in recent months to respond to the displacement crisis, we look forward to our people being able to return safely and with dignity to their cities and villages as soon as possible. We will also strengthen cooperation with all brothers and friends to secure the necessities for reconstruction."

He continued: "Due to the increasing speculations and rumors regarding the fate of the Baccalaureate exams, I have been following up on the matter over the past days with Minister Rima Karami. While it is our duty to protect the quality of education in Lebanon and safeguard students' right to have their efforts culminate in obtaining the official certificate, it is also our responsibility to ensure their security and safety, avoiding exposing them to any risks amid the exceptional circumstances the country is experiencing. We must also guarantee equal opportunities among all exam candidates to the greatest extent possible. Therefore, I believe it is prudent to delay any final decision regarding these exams until it becomes clear whether the ceasefire announcement will actually be implemented. In any case, postponing the initially scheduled date for the first session of these exams on the first of next month is necessary to allow everyone to prepare properly if the decision is to proceed with them. Otherwise, the option to provide students with certificates from their schools remains valid."

The Minister of Information added: "The Cabinet then proceeded to review its agenda and approved most of the items. Among these were issues related to activating matters concerning the Central Inspection: approval of the request by the Inspection to conduct a competitive examination for promoting assistant inspectors within its staff. Also approved was their request to hold a limited examination to fill vacant technical positions in the General Engineering Inspection, the General Health, Social, and Agricultural Inspection.

Additionally, the Cabinet approved the request from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to establish a joint-stock company named Beirut International Airport Corporation. The Cabinet also approved the request from the Central Bank of Lebanon to contract consensually with an international auditing firm specialized in tracking funds transferred through the study of their movement from the consultancy account to the benefit of shell companies or other third parties, pursuant to the Public Procurement Law.

Furthermore, the Cabinet approved the Ministry of Economy's request to ratify a draft decree aimed at amending certain provisions of Decree 7137 and activating a council called the National Council for Price Policy within the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Among the approved items was also the Ministry of Environment's request for a draft implementing decree for Article 28 of Law No. 80 dated 10/10/2018 and its amendments, concerning integrated solid waste management, in addition to several other agenda items."