The logo of the public channel Tele-Liban. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — Disagreements have ensued over the appointment of public television station Tele Liban’s new board, mainly between Minister of Information Paul Morcos and the majority of ministers of Nawaf Salam's Cabinet.
Morcos asked Cabinet on March 25 to approve the nomination of a new board for Tele Liban, chaired by private channel LBCI journalist Bassam Abou Zeid. However, Cabinet voted overwhelmingly against this proposal, subjecting the appointment to the administrative process for nominations in the public sector.
Despite his initial statements, Morcos told L'Orient Today on April 3 that he will comply with Cabinet’s decision to follow the established mechanism.
Morcos' initial argument was that Tele Liban is a “private company” that is not “subject to the mechanism of administrative appointments” of the Lebanese government.
On March 20, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced the adoption by the government of a new mechanism for appointments in the public administration. Previously, many positions of responsibility were managed on an interim basis in Lebanon, as a consequence of more than two years of presidential vacancy.
Salam's cabinet wants "to select the most competent within the administration based on nine criteria founded on priority, competition, equal opportunity, inclusivity, absence of conflicts of interest, flexibility, diversification, transparency and accountability."
Disagreements over appointment process
Morcos first suggested a three-year term for the board, comprising Bassam Abou Zeid as president and director-general, along with Mohammad Zakaria Moustapha, Charbel Khalil, Danny Haddad, Lama al-Sabah and Salman al-Rayes as additional members.
Abou Zeid joined LBCI in the late 1980s, where he still works as a reporter and news presenter. Before joining the private channel, he was a journalist at Radio Free Lebanon. He was also the president of the Press Club and currently works for the media outlet Houna Loubnan.
Contacted by L'Orient Today, journalist Patricia Samaha, who works with Tele Liban, provided details about the disagreement over the process. “On March 15,” she explained, “the intention to appoint a new board of directors for Tele Liban was announced, and interested parties were asked to send resumes for consideration.”
Less than a week later, Morcos' proposal to appoint a new six-member board of directors was leaked. According to Samaha, this led to objections over the principle of direct appointments and the absence of the appointment mechanism. The disregard for the appointment mechanism in the Tele Liban case, she argues, could set a precedent for future cases. An informed source previously explained Morcos' point of view to L’Orient Today, stating that Tele Liban “is basically a private company and its shares were subsequently bought by the state,” therefore “the change of ownership does not alter the nature of the company or its regulations.”
Morcos also clarified that the proposal of names for the Board of Directors of Tele Liban legally falls within the minister's powers, but the final decision rests with the Cabinet.
The Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Fadi Makki, told L’Orient Today that he has no issue with the names initially proposed by Morcos, but insisted that there is no reason to take them out of the mechanism.
Makki said that legally speaking, if the state owns at least 90 percent of a company, the government should determine the members of its board of directors.
"Since Tele Liban is state-owned, the appointments should be subject to the mechanism," he said.
Tele Liban was created in the late 1950s. Initially, it was wholly owned by two private companies, Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) (channels 7 and 9) and Télé-Orient (channels 5 and 11), before merging in 1978 under an agreement that provided for an equal division of ownership between the public and private sectors. In 1996, the state bought out the private sector's shares, and the channel has been wholly state-owned ever since.
According to Makki, a committee composed of Morcos, the head of the Civil Service Board and three experts – one named by him and two named by Morcos – would be looking into applications to the board.
On March 28, Makki said that applications would open in the next two to three days on the ministry’s electronic website, adding that the appointments would be announced within ten days. The minister was not available to give updates on the progress of the nomination process.
Upon taking office, Paul Morcos promised to revitalize Tele Liban, the only public TV channel in Lebanon.
Lacking resources for several years, the channel recently revived an old tradition – the French-language news bulletin. Since Jan. 23, it has been airing at 6:30 p.m. in a 15-minute format from Monday to Friday.
Contacted, the Information Minister declined to comment on the matter.
However, at the end of the government meeting on Friday, he stated that “this subject is outside the scope of discussion by the Parliament, but that it will be submitted to the new television board of directors that we will set up as soon as possible, so that there is sound management of this institution, capable of examining strategic and fundamental issues.”