Aoun Skeptical of Joint Committees Decision on EDL Contract Employees
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun slammed on Friday the joint parliamentary committees’ approval of the employment of qualified candidates who are currently contract workers at Electricite du Liban.
He told As Safir newspaper the draft law that was proposed by Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, who is Aoun’s son-in-law, was an accurate interpretation of a law previously approved by the parliament.
Bassil proposed to allow 700 contract workers to stand for an official exam, out of some 2,500 employees, while the rest would become employees at private companies under a three-month probation period.
On Thursday, the parliamentary joint committees approved a draft law allowing EDL contract workers to sit for an exam that would allow them to become full-time employees.
Aoun said that “this kind of work can’t go on.”
“We will not allow this issue to pass,” he added.
The joint committees’ decision created sharp differences among the March 8 forces as Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc MPs withdrew from the session in protest against the draft law.
On Thursday, Bassil lashed out at his allies the MPs of AMAL and Hizbullah, demanding them to clarify their stance at the committee as they had endorsed his proposal several times in the cabinet.
He warned that institutions are being undermined “because the needs of state institutes are not being taken into consideration.”
“We would be uprooting the whole principle of civil service if we decided to hire 2,500 employees -- the equivalent of one third of current state employees,” Bassil cautioned.
“The draft law proposed today (Thursday) is telling citizens that those who are followers of certain leaders will have the privilege of being employed in state institutions after protesting and blocking roads,” he added.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/43478 |