The controversial increase on the minimum wage hasn’t reached a safe haven yet, as the package proposed by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas was rejected by the General Labor Confederation with a reluctant flexibility by the private sector.

“Prime Minister (Najib Miqati) is seeking to take this matter forward to reach common grounds,” the premier’s sources told As Safir newspaper on Friday.

Business leaders will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ proposal to correct the minimum wages.

As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday that the business leaders will reject the proposal because it didn’t include adding the transportation allowance to the basic salary and the wage hike didn’t respond to the figures released by the Central Statistics office.

The cabinet will hold an extraordinary session on Friday at Baabda Palace to discuss the electoral draft law which is based on proportional representation, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

The cabinet added three more items to its agenda including the draft law on determining the conditions for acquiring citizenship, suggested by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

The 2012 draft state budget includes an amount of LL850 billion to cover the expenses of salaries for state employees, An Nahar daily reported on Sunday.

It said that the current dialogue between the different parties is over the adoption of a 40 percent raise for those earning the minimum wage of LL500,000 in both the public and private sector.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas stated that the chances of resolving the dispute over wages are high if all sides are honest in their dealing with the file.

He told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday: “The deadline to resolve this issue is not open-ended and it should not exceed the end of November.”

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas confirmed on Friday that he received the answers of the Economic Committees and the Syndicate Coordination Committee on his recommendations on the wage boost.

He told LBCI TV station that the Syndicate Coordination Committee was more cooperative.

Cabinet decided on Thursday to form a committee, headed by Prime Minister Najib Miqati, to address the State Council’s reservations on the government’s draft plan to increase minimum wage, reported the daily An Nahar on Friday.

Information Minister Walid al-Daouq quoted him as saying after the session: “We will consider the council’s position because we are keen on reaching an agreement that respects the laws and meets the employees’ demands.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun stressed on Friday that the cabinet is not one-sided but it contains parties that have different priorities.

Aoun lashed out at his critics who said that his ministers are moody, in a press conference before heading a meeting for the FPM bloc in Mar Elias Monastery in Baabda.

Ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat clashed during a cabinet session on Wednesday in what was seen as an attempt by the representatives of the FPM to exact revenge on the PSP ministers for scrutinizing Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s electricity project.

During a lengthy session held at the Grand Serail, Bassil asked Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, who is loyal to Jumblat, to unveil all projects carried out by his ministry, ministerial sources told An Nahar daily on Thursday.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas was on Friday drafting the decree of wage hikes approved by the cabinet earlier in the week despite opposition by the General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees.

Nahhas told As Safir daily he was obliged in accordance with the law to prepare the decree as called for by the government although the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc rejected it.