The Speaker of the House Nabih Berri received Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab at the second presidential palace in Ain Al-Tineh, where they discussed general conditions, political updates, and legislative matters. After the meeting, Bou Saab stated: "I met with President Nabih Berri to extend holiday greetings and to discuss three main topics following the legislative session, including the desire and request to confirm what President Berri told me after the session ended, that his main concern after the holidays is the election of a president for the republic. I believe this issue will take priority for President Nabih Berri until we reach the election of a president."
Bou Saab added: "The other topic is what is happening in the Cabinet and the remarks we heard yesterday attributed to the Prime Minister. This is what I was discussing with the President, and I am responsible for it. If what the Prime Minister claims is true, that he no longer considers the Minister of Defense relevant and cannot cooperate with him, I want to tell Prime Minister Mikati: It is the Prime Minister's responsibility to deal with all ministers. I am sure he did not mean his words in that manner, and perhaps the media presented it in that way. I hope the Prime Minister clarifies this issue, as the Minister of Defense is in his ministry and is a member of the government just like the Prime Minister. If the Minister of Defense's role in his ministry is over, it means the government has ended, and the Prime Minister has ended in the same way. I hope the Prime Minister addresses this matter; such comments about the Minister of Defense do not yield results. We want to find ways to solve problems, not complicate them."
He concluded: "Of course, stability in the south and the situation before the holidays are being studied as much as possible so that the Lebanese can celebrate the holidays in peace."
President Berri also received the head of the private school teachers' union, Naeem Mahfoud, and members of the union's council, in the presence of a member of the Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, MP Ashraf Biydoun, and the central educational official in the Amal Movement, Ali Mushayq. The delegation thanked President Berri and the parliament for approving laws aimed at ensuring fairness for teachers in private schools, especially retirees, and the approval of a 650 billion-pound advance bill for the compensation fund, in addition to discussing educational matters.
Mahfoud said after the meeting: "We were honored as the Union Council of Private School Teachers, along with branch presidents, to thank President Nabih Berri for approving the two projects that concern retirees in private schools. The first project, a grant of 650 billion pounds, supports us for a year to increase the salaries of retirees, and the second project covers the pension and compensation fund with an 8% increase for contractual and retired teachers. Indeed, the contribution percentage for schools is 8% on all transactions they handle. Accordingly, we have generated income for the pension and compensation fund in a way that allows the fund to sustain itself and issue the grant after a year."
He added: "We requested that after the law is published in the official gazette, the President would instruct the Minister of Finance to quickly disburse the grant, as teachers are living in unfortunate conditions. The President assured us that upon publication of the law in the official gazette, he would speak to the Ministry of Finance to disburse the grant the following day."
For his part, MP Ashraf Biydoun said after the meeting: "This was a visit to thank the President for his exceptional efforts and diligent follow-up on these two laws, which are of great importance to a large segment that has served the nation through the private educational sector for over three decades. This persistent effort was made by the Education Committee, both through the subcommittee formed and the joint committees that completed it two days before the legislative session according to President Nabih Berri's directives. Regarding the 650 billion pounds, we have been following up with the Minister of Finance since this morning, who promised that once the law is published in the official gazette, the amount would be available to the Ministry of Education to refer it to the compensation fund."
On another note, President Berri received from the Secretary-General of the Parliament, Adnan Daher, and the Director-General of Sessions, Dr. Riad Ghanem, the issuance of the Lebanese parliamentary dictionary.
