Second arrest in quadruple murder, Mikati won’t resign, Parliament approves laws: Everything you need to know to start your Wednesday

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A second suspect was arrested in connection with a quadruple murder case discovered last week in South Lebanon. Following the arrest of Hassan Fayad, the main suspect in the killing of a mother and her three daughters in Ansar in the Nabatieh district, a second suspect, Hassan Ghannash, 21, was arrested Sunday night by the Lebanese Army Intelligence services. Ghannash and Fayad were the last people to see the family, and their relationship to the victims is yet to be determined. The wife of Ansar’s mokhtar (local official responsible for records), Zakaria Safawi, and his three daughters aged 16, 20 and 22, were found lifeless last Thursday, 25 days after their disappearance. Fayyad had confessed to kidnapping the women with the assistance of an accomplice and murdering them in a cave. Another tragic incident befell Nabatieh yesterday morning when a baby’s dead body was discovered in a field in the Maslakh area. The Internal Security Forces have opened an investigation into the circumstances of the child’s death, which remain unknown.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati assured yesterday he would not abandon his role as premier to avoid giving anyone an excuse to delay the upcoming parliamentary elections. “I won’t be dragged into resigning so that it is not an excuse for obstructing parliamentary elections,” Mikati said in televised remarks outside a session of Parliament. The polls, scheduled for May 15, are the first to take place since the country fell into a dizzying spiral of financial deterioration in 2019. At the time, spontaneous protests drew hundreds of thousands of people into streets and squares all across the country, venting their anger at the ruling class which they held responsible for decades of waste, corruption and illicit enrichment. Mikati is widely seen as belonging to that same ruling class, as is most of his government. Mikati’s government, which operates under the slogan “Together to the Rescue,” has been unable to agree on financial and reform measures demanded by Western donors and the International Monetary Fund, from whom Lebanon is seeking to secure an aid package. Earlier this month, Mikati, a billionaire tycoon and three-time prime minister, said he wouldn’t run for a seat in the 128-member legislature, claiming that he preferred to make room for new faces instead.

Parliament yesterday approved several laws, including extending the terms of the municipalities, a controversial building law and compensation for victims of the August 2021 Akkar fuel tank explosion, as well as additional funding for the upcoming parliamentary elections. On March 4, the cabinet approved the postponement of municipal elections, blaming a lack of material and human resources. Parliament on Tuesday approved the decision and extended the municipalities’ term for an additional year. Municipal elections were originally scheduled to take place in May 2022. A controversial law allowing municipalities to give exceptional building permits and that would double the allowable buildable surface area in rural areas was also passed. Parliament also approved the allocation of exceptional funding from the 2022 budget to the General Directorate for Political Affairs, in charge of organizing elections. Questions over funding for the Supervisory Commission of the elections remained unanswered by Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. Families of the victims of the Aug. 15 Tleil explosion in Akkar, who blocked roads to protest government inaction the day before, will be compensated with a salary equaling that of a soldier killed while on duty. Additionally, those injured will receive full health coverage from the Health Ministry. However, the victims of the blast will not be considered martyrs in the same way the Aug. 4 victims are, and therefore are not entitled to health treatment at military hospitals. The session had kicked off with the approval of an extension of the student dollar law to include students who began to study abroad before the 2020-21 academic year.

The South I “We Vote for Change” list yesterday became the second list in the country to be officially registered with the Interior Ministry for the May 15 parliamentary elections. The list includes, among others, sitting MP Oussama Saad (Popular Nasserite Organization/Saida) and the head of the national committee on COVID-19 vaccines Abdul Rahman Bizri, who will run for the two Sunni seats in Saida, as well as retired Brig. Gen. Jamil Dagher, who will contest the Catholic seat in Jezzine. Shamaluna, an alliance of independent groups in North Lebanon registered its list the day prior. If a list is not registered with the Interior Ministry by April 4, it will not be included on the ballot.

The syndicate for workers and employees of state-owned power provider Electricité du Liban will continue their ongoing strike for another week. The syndicate announced in a statement the third extension of their strike, which began on March 9, saying it will now last until April 5. Under the strike’s terms, only employees may enter EDL offices for the duration of the strike. The syndicate also said that after a meeting with EDL’s board of directors, they discussed agreeing not to extend “[private electricity suppliers’] authorities under any circumstances or justification.”

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Youssef Khayat: A home-grown talent raised in Lebanon and developed in France.”

Correction: A headline in an earlier version of the Morning Brief said that a second suspect was arrested in the Nabatieh quadruple murder yesterday. The suspect was arrested on Sunday, and the headline has been corrected.