By yalibnan.com

Al-Joumhouria daily  reported that the cabinet will
discuss on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace  a new electoral
law and that the term of the current parliament might be “technically”
extended until September, when preparations for holding the elections
based on a new law are complete. President Michel Aoun who headed  up the meeting always opposed the extension of the parliament’s term. In fact he labeled the current parliament ” illegal” , before it elected him.

The last parliamentary elections were held in June 2009 .
On 31 May 2013, the Parliament extended its mandate for 17 months, due
to the deadlock over the electoral law. And, on 5 November 2014, the
Parliament enacted another extension, thus keeping its mandate for an additional 31 months, until 20 June 2017.

Aoun  started the meeting by  denouncing  the Istanbul
attack and  hailing  the efforts exerted by the government in handling
the situation. Aoun also hailed the security measures of the  New
Year’s Eve in maintaining peace and praised the efforts of the security
forces in that regard. Prime Minister Saad Hariri suggested the formation of a
ministerial committee that sets an action plan in emergency situations,
and stays in touch with the President and Prime Minister to follow up on
the procedures that could be taken.

President Michel Aoun’s visit
to Saudi Arabia next week is one of the items on the agenda, including
the executive decrees of the oil sector, discussing a new electoral law
before the constitutional deadline for the parliamentary elections
approaches. The cabinet will also discuss the appointment of Imad Kreidieh as the new OGERO Telecom chief to replace Abdul Menhem Youssef.

Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc has been after removing Youssef for several years . In fact Youssef’s removal was announced earlier today by former telecom minister Nicolas Sehnaoui  who repressed Aoun in Nagib Mikati’s cabinet  from June 2011 to  February 2014 .

Youssef also served as  director general of investment
and maintenance at the telecom ministry. This position was replaced
 by Bassel al-Ayoubi.

The Cabinet also approved Wednesday the long-awaited oil and gas excavation  decrees .

The cabinet also agreed to pay the fees of a specialized committee looking into the issue of naturalizing emigrants of Lebanese origin .

This was the Cabinet’s first session after winning the  parliament’s vote of confidence .

About Kreidieh

Imad Kreidieh , 56  describes himself on his website
 as  a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience.
He  studied in France and the United States where he earned a Masters
degree in Monetary Economics from Northeastern University.

Today,  Kreidieh is leading as a CEO one of the oldest
Philanthropic Association in the Middle East  (Makassed Philathropy)
providing education, healthcare and other social services to a
the community.