Hrawi: local polls are great event

Lebanese President Elias Hrawi described the decision endorsed by the Lebanese parliament to pass a municipal elections bill and the process of local polls as "a big event and a great achievement"

He called for taking necessary measures to hold elections "at the earliest opportunities," urging the government to immediately proceed to designate the villages of displaced Lebanese, where elections should be postponed as the reconciliation process is not completed yet.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Cabinet approved several measures in a bid to find permanent solutions to some outstanding problems. Decisions approved included a draft rental law submitted by the justice minister; a draft decree on determining the number of surplus full-time and part time employees in the country's public institutions; funding for state-owned Tele-Liban, for the station to operate for the next two months; three main demands by public schools teachers to settle their financial conditions; a decision to prohibit all unlicensed media activities which are illegal, and a plan to build a cultural and conference center in Beirut, in Ain al-Mreisseh district.