Hasan Lakkis| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The government passed a series of thorny items on its agenda Wednesday, in an unexpectedly productive Cabinet session which also saw a deal for further meetings to finish study of the 2015 draft budget.

The Cabinet approved the specifications book for the bidding of contracts currently held by alfa and mtc touch, operators of Lebanon’s two mobile telephone networks. Their contracts, initially scheduled to expire Friday, were extended till the end of the year when the bidding process will conclude.

Telecommunications Minister Butrous Harb had threatened that his ministry would operate the two networks itself if the specifications book was not approved and the contracts not extended.

Prior to the session, a ministerial committee failed to reach an agreement on the specifications book. Members of the committee, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Fneish, argued that the specifications book had been designed to favor two specific companies, and was aimed at privatizing the mobile telephone sector.

The specifications book was finally approved during the Cabinet meeting with some amendments.

Speaking to The Daily Star, ministerial sources said agreement on the issue during the Cabinet session was aimed at preventing Harb from following through on his threat.

The government also approved granting the security agencies access to telecoms data for one year, at the request of the Interior Ministry. In line with Law 140, security services will be able to access the identity of individuals making calls, but cannot wiretap the conversations. Fneish and the other Hezbollah minister, Hussein Hajj Hasan, expressed reservations over the Cabinet’s decision.

Ministers also agreed to hold successive Cabinet sessions starting Tuesday to finalize study of the draft budget and refer it to Parliament.

The government has twice failed to approve the 2015 draft budget, as Cabinet parties are divided on whether the bill should include figures from a proposed salary scale for the public sector.

Speaking after the session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said the Cabinet had also allocated $30 million to construct a new prison.

The body also agreed to accept a grant given to the Social Affairs Ministry to support response efforts to the Syrian refugee crisis. The item was a source of tension between Social Affairs MinisterRashid Derbas and Bassil during last week’s session, when Bassil said that it required further discussion.

But the productivity of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting may not carry over to upcoming sessions, with the divisive issue of extending the terms of senior security officials looming.

The term of Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, head of the Internal Security Forces, expires in June, and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has threatened that ‘all options are on table’ if Basbous’ mandate is extended. There is speculation that Aoun could withdraw his ministers from the Cabinet over the issue.

Speaker Nabih Berri toned down the aggressive rhetoric he had used previously to describe Aoun’s decision to boycott an upcoming Parliament session on Wednesday, and spoke of the need for lawmakers to work together.

“Difference of opinion with Gen. Aoun does not mean disagreement on strategy,” Berri was quoted as saying during his weekly meeting with MPs.

“All of us have to work together in order to best serve the public interest on one side, and manage the affairs of the state and people on the other.”

Elsewhere, Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said a “strong” presidential candidate – one who could secure 65 votes in Parliament – was not currently available. “A strong president is one who can secure at least 65 MPs to elect him. But this standard has [not been met] so far,” Siniora told reporters while on an inspection of developmental projects in his home city of Sidon.

“We all [should have] realized this by now, and [we must] search for the ideal means that can help us elect a president.”