Sabine Darrous
Daily Star staff

The former director-general of the Information Ministry, Mohammed Obeid, urged the Cabinet Tuesday to act on the Shura Council’s decision to overturn his removal from the ministry.
The council issued a decision last month to revoke a Cabinet decree that ousted Obeid from his position three years ago and put him at the disposal of the premier’s office, which was then occupied by Salim Hoss.
Obeid’s lawyer, Ziad Khazen, said the government should abide by the council’s decision and reinstate Obeid.
“If the previous government did not have time to reappoint Obeid to his position because it was replaced by a new government after the elections, then this new government should apply the Shura Council’s decision and reappoint (Obeid) to his previous position at the Information Ministry,” Khazen said during a news conference at the Journalists Union in Achrafieh.
On hand for the news conference were Nabatieh MP Abdel-Latif Zein, Western Bekaa-Rashaya MP Mahmoud Abu Hamdan, Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Ali Hassan Khalil, Tyre MP Ali Khreis and the director-general of the Sports and Youth Ministry, Zeid Khiami.
All are either allies of Speaker Nabih Berri or members of the Amal Movement.
Khazen made clear that Obeid should be reappointed at the Information Ministry and not at any other department.
However, it is up to the Cabinet to decide to determine the nature of his reinstatement.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said that he received a copy of the council’s decision from Obeid and had raised it before the Cabinet earlier this month to discuss it.
Aridi told The Daily Star that the implementation of the decision was compulsory, but that there were two different jurisdictions with regard to reappointing the person to the same position or a different one.
Aridi said he did not know when the government will study the issue or what decision it will make.
Obeid is not the only civil servant who still does not know his fate following the council’s ruling last month. The former director-general for the Educational Center for Research and Development (ECRD), Mounir Abu Asli, is still waiting for the Cabinet to revoke its decision to oust him from his position.
The Shura Council has also revoked the Hoss government decision to oust Abu Asli from the ECRD, but the current government has not yet looked into the matter.
Some five other director-generals were ousted by decrees along with Obeid and Abu Asli three years ago as part of the reform and transparency policy adopted at the time.
All of the former first-rank civil servants challenged the decrees, but the Shura Council has only issued the two decisions in favor of Obeid and Abu Asli.
Khazen said that they notified the government through the Information Ministry of the council’s decision shortly after it was announced on May 7.
He reminded officials that the decree ended Obeid’s services as director-general only, and does not apply to his other position as the government’s delegate to the Tele-Liban television station.

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