Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Thursday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Liwaa
Letters from Damascus to Elysee
The decision to suspend Wednesday’s Cabinet session does not seem odd in itself. What seemed strange were the circumstances surrounding Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s decision following “non-stop, daily wrangling” by ministers from MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc.
The latest evidence of a power-struggle came in the form of an argument that broke out after pro-Aoun ministers objected to the appointments to the Higher Disciplinary Committee and the Civil Service Board.
Perhaps the decision to suspend the Cabinet session aimed at exhausting the Mikati government in light of two developments: Mikati’s upcoming visit to France and a decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to go ahead with trials in absentia.
Al-Anwar
Cabinet suspends meetings pending a solution on [public] appointments
The situation exploded during the Cabinet session Wednesday evening after a dispute between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and ministers from MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc over administrative appointments.
Information Minister Walid Daouk said the prime minister decided to suspend Cabinet meetings until an agreement on the issue of appointments has been reached.
Daouk did not rule out the possibility that Mikati could take a break from this crisis at a later stage.
Al-Akhbar
Cabinet meeting torpedoed
After weeks of mutual threats and intimidation between members of the government, and after months of complaining the Cabinet is non-productive and despite the calm and productivity that prevailed during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, differences were explosive during Wednesday’s Cabinet session.
The session was torpedoed after ministers from MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc tried to block a quorum, prompting Mikati to suspend the meeting to deprive them of this "achievement."
The issue is no longer focused on reactivating government’s work but is back to square one instead.
Most eyes were turned on Speaker Nabih Berri, who appeared angry at what happened at the Cabinet session Wednesday.
“Instead of focusing on the country’s interests, the government is getting busy with itself,” Berri was quoted as saying.
MP Walid Jumblatt was no less angry, according to a source close to him.