Speaker of the HoR discusses with Al-Sayeh preparations for holding municipal council elections.JUMBLATT: NO INDICATIONS OF ELECTING A PRESIDENT, WE HOPE A CHIEF-OF-STAFF WILL BE APPOINTED SOON

Al-Qubba: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Counselor Aguila Saleh, discussed with the Chairman of the High Electoral Commission, Imad Al-Sayeh, today Saturday, the latest developments in the electoral process, and the Commission's preparations for holding municipal council elections. Al-Sayeh and member of the Commission's Council, Abdul Hakim Al-Shaab, briefed the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the technical preparations made by the Commission to open the voter register in the coming days, and the executive plans it has drawn up to ensure that these elections are held with the highest standards of integrity, according to the Commission on its Facebook page. For his part, the Speaker of the House of Representatives expressed his full support for the upcoming elections, praising the efforts made by the Commission to achieve these national entitlements. Source: Libyan News Agency Former Minister and MP Walid Jumblatt said today that 'the war raging in Gaza is continuing, as is the Israeli aggression against south Lebanon, and it may last for more than a year,' adding that 'any talk that the war will stop and the Palestinian state will see the light, after the American president and his foreign minister remembered the Palestinian state, is useless...' He added: 'We are trying with House Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, and the loyal people in the country to avoid the expansion of the war and to stop it...Basically there are occupied and disputed lands and all of Hockstein's missions in this regard have not succeeded, but we are trying from our part, knowing that the war is expanding in the region...We do not know the adventures of the Israeli mind, but if the worst happens, as in 2006, we are ready to receive our people from the south, as we did in the past, but we hope that does not happen.' Jumblatt continued: "With regards to internal pol itical matters, there are no indications of electing a president, but we succeeded, through the efforts of the Democratic Gathering, to extend the term of the Army Commander and we hope to appoint a Chief-of-Staff in the near future." Jumblatt's words came during his tour today in the city of Aley, where he visited the home of Democratic Gathering bloc member, MP Akram Chehayeb, and the Progressive Socialist Party's Interior Branch where a wide meeting was held in the presence of MP Chehayeb, Mayor of Aley Wajdi Mrad, and a number of dignitaries. Source: National News Agency - Lebanon