President Michel Suleiman stated that he refuses to take sides in the government dispute over resolving the electricity crisis, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “I believe that Premier Najib Miqati took the appropriate stand because he found the cost of Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s proposal to be too high.”

President Michel Suleiman and Ministers loyal to Hizbullah and AMAL have sought to mediate in an attempt to resolve the dispute between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the electricity crisis, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Suleiman is expected to hold meetings on Tuesday with several ministers in order to seek consensus concerning the matter.

President Michel Suleiman will attend the Arab Summit that will be held in Baghdad this week at the head of a small delegation, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to Baabda Palace sources, Suleiman will head Thursday morning to Iraq and depart the same day after he addresses the Arab leaders.

Under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, represented by the Minister of Telecommunications, Nicolas Sehnaoui, and with the participation of H.E. Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, the third annual ArabNet Digital Summit is set to open on Thursday, March 29th at the Grand Habtoor Hotel, Beirut. The Summit is the largest gathering of entrepreneurs and digital professionals in the web and mobile industries in the Arab region and is expected to attract 1,500 attendees for five action packed days of innovation, entrepreneurialism and best practice sharing between regional and global leaders.

In collaboration with the Central Bank of Lebanon and strategic partnerships with Bank Audi, STC, and MBC Group—the summit will feature discussions and lectures involving 150 internationally renowned speakers covering the latest trends and topics in the industry, particularly in relation to the opportunities and challenges created in various industries by the digital revolution. This will include the future of news, television, advertising and digital marketing, as well as mobile applications, online gaming, e-commerce, and other important fields.

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi announced on Monday that he will present an initiative to resolve the dispute over the appointments in the Higher Judicial Council, hoping that the government would reach an agreement over the appointment of the head of the council.

He announced in a press conference that he will present a decree in May on the appointment of five members of the council.

Beirut lawyers observed a one-day strike on Monday to protest the procrastination in the appointment of the head of the Higher Judicial Council.

The lawyers did not attend court proceedings at the Beirut Justice Palace which only witnessed the presence of the prosecutors, defendants and witnesses that could attend private hearings in the absence of their attorneys.

A campaign launched by the Free Patriotic Movement and Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi against Premier Najib Miqati revolves not only around the electricity sector but also the appointment of civil servants to state institutions, ministerial sources said Monday.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat however that the procrastination in the appointments is to be blamed on the differences between President Michel Suleiman and FPM leader Michel Aoun.

President Michel Suleiman called on the competent security and judiciary authorities to exert efforts to implement stricter food safety measures, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

“If security is a priority, then the citizens’ health and their right to eat safe food is sacred,” Suleiman said.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Thursday he would soon issue a “Service Passport” which would be used by its holder for a specific official mission abroad.

Mansour told An Nahar daily the passport would be given to officials with special missions in other countries on condition that they hand over the document to the ministry upon their return to Lebanon.

The heads of the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations announced that lawyers would hold a one-day strike on Monday to protest the failure to appoint a new head for the Higher Judicial Council.

Nuhad Jabr and Bassam al-Dayeh said Wednesday that lawyers will suspend their work as “a first step that would be followed by more escalatory measures if the cabinet does not appoint” the HJC’s head.