جوزف القصيفي

President Berri listened to our point of view, but the amendments have a legislative, legal and constitutional path that must take its course, and the matter is up to the MPs and the general assembly of the Parliament.

We met President Berri and presented to him the necessity of amending, and he was understanding. Minister Morcos and a number of MPs were in constant consultation among themselves and with us, and we agreed on the amendments that do not differ in essence from those approved by the joint parliamentary committees. Therefore, we returned and spoke with President Berri and briefed him on the atmosphere of the contacts, so he was welcoming and understanding.

The meeting was positive, and we addressed the amendments. Before the law was passed, we had wished that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament tasked with handling the file would ascertain the opinion of the syndicates and the bodies concerned, and a meeting was held on the tenth of last August, and we agreed on a series of amendments numbering around 23 to 24, and they were supposed to be proposed during the discussion of the media law, but circumstances arose during the session whose details we won't revisit, leading to the law being passed without amendment. We objected and raised our voice to the President of the Republic, and we wished he would return the law, but he did not; rather, he signed it and it was published in the Official Gazette. But Information Minister Paul Morcos said the law is amendable, and that some amendments had been passed but the circumstances were not suitable, and that he is working toward that.