Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Monday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

An-Nahar

First report of absentee ballot

Berri, Hezbollah criticize Bassil

Bellemare in Beirut Thursday, Friday

It seems that the government, which will celebrate its first anniversary under Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Jan. 25, has a busy week ahead, one loaded with issues including: the state budget; public appointments; a bloody incident at sea; contacts made to contain the repercussions of the incident at sea; and the power cuts crisis, which has resulted in the escalation of the phenomenon of road blockades in protest.

To make things worse, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri joined Hezbollah in criticizing Energy Minister Gibran Bassil.

Amid all this, the issue of an elections law was again at the forefront. An-Nahar is publishing a summary of a detailed report prepared by the Foreign Ministry, based on information made available from more than 70 Lebanese embassies and concular missions. The report also includes a map indicating the distribution of the Lebanese in the world, and the number of voters expected.

Regarding the issue of electricity, Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah held the government responsible for the ongoing power cuts and called for a fair distribution of power.

Bassil responded, saying “the worst is yet to come” regarding power rationing.

Later Sunday, visitors of Berri quoted the Speaker as criticizing Bassil. They said Berri believs Bassil should tell the Lebanese the truth about what is going on.

Representatives of Hezbollah and Berri in south Lebanon and the Bekaa had earlier harshly criticized the chronic power outages.  

Meanwhile, Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Daniel Bellemare will make a two-day farewell visit to Lebanon Thursday and Friday.

An-Nahar has learned that Bellemare will meet Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Friday to discuss the outcome of the Lebanese probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Al-Mustaqbal

Assad’s Shabiha tried to extract confessions from fishermen regarding Future Movement's alleged weapons’ smuggling

While aggression by the Assad regime continued on Lebanon, a state of tension prevailed along Lebanon’s northern border following heavy clashes in Syrian towns facing Wadi Khaled.

A number of houses and cars have been damaged by cross-border Syrian fire, which coincided with the funeral of teenager Maher Hamad in his hometown Arida.

Adding to the anger of the mourners was the absence of any official Lebanese statement, and the fact that Assad’s Shabiha deployed along the Syrian border in full military gear.

As-Safir

Authorities contain Arida boat incident

Electricity threatening to "burn" the government

As residents of the border town of Arida buried teenager Maher Hamad, a comprehensive picture has emerged of the circumstances surrounding the Lebanese fishing trawler incident that left Hamad dead.

As it turns out, the facts contradict several statements made in public.

Sources close to the presidential palace told As-Safir that President Michel Sleiman held intensive talks aimed at containing the incident, which paved the way for the release of the three kidnapped Lebanese.

As for the electricity crisis, more popular protests were held in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley as well as in Mount Lebanon, Iqlim Kharroub and Beirut’s southern suburbs in protest against power cuts.

Protesters blocked roads with burning tires. Things very nearly got out of hand for the struggling municipalities, municipal unions and the various political forces.

Bassil told As-Safir that several sides were to blame for hindering a solution to the electricity crisis.

Bassil: “The government should know that it has two options – either Cabinet and Parliament together bear immediate responsibility and take appropriate steps to push the frozen projects forward, or [the government] as a whole will become threatened because the electricity issue does not only burn the minister but the government.”

Al-Liwaa

More reactions to Arida incident

Fears that electricity crisis will shake up government ahead of Paris visit!

Hariri in Beirut before Feb. 14

The Lebanon situation is spiralling out of control, with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis and the incident in Arida in which a Lebanese boy was shot dead by Syrian gunfire.

The boy was on a boat with two Lebanese fishermen who were kidnapped by Syrian security men and taken to Tartous. As reactions kept pouring in, contacts made by Lebanese officials at the security level resulted in obtaining a clear picture of the situation, but at the same time strengthened warnings about the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon – even though it was restricted to the northern border with Syria – in light of a decision of some Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia, to withdraw its observers from the Arab League mission.

Meanwhile, well-informed sources speaking to Al-Liwaa expressed fears that the electricity crisis could result in a massive shake-up within the government and on the streets, particularly after statements made by Energy Minister Gibran Bassil that he was ready to take to the streets and protest against power cuts.

Cabinet will hold three meetings this week – Monday and Tuesday to debate the 2012 state budget and an ordinary session Wednesday with 59 items on its agenda, including the electricity issue.

The sources did not rule out the possibility that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ non-signing of the pay hikes agreement would be raised during Monday’s Cabinet meeting, pointing out that Nahhas is likely to indicate his desire to resign.