Conflict within the ministry of agriculture minister exposes corruption and politicization

During the past two days, the local media was enthralled with the emerging dispute between the agriculture minister, Ghazi Zuaiter, and Gloria Abu Zeid, the director general of Cooperatives, affiliated to Marada party. The apparent reason of the squabble, is a request by Zuaiter to sack Abu Zeid for refusing to sign papers involving housing cooperatives and disciplining a number of cooperative women employees. The dispute, which quickly turned into a sectarian issue, according to Al Akhbar newspaper,  was triggered by 3 files, respectively related to a housing cooperative in the Matn area, the case of high school teachers in the Beqaa and Sayidat al Najat Cooperative. Informed sources told Al Akhbar that the third coop, better known as Bishop Issam Darwish Coop, the abbot of Firzol, Zahleh and Beqaa for Melkite Catholics, was the cause of the problem. Citing other versions of the story, Al Akhbar said Abu Zeid refused to sign papers pertaining to the coop because the complex building constructed under the supervision of Ashraf Darwish, was built on episcopal waqf land. Accordingly, the law requires that the Vatican concedes the transfer of property to individuals, a condition that was not met, Abu Zeid argued. Another alleged reason for not signing, is that Abu Zeid noticed that founders of the episcopal coop in question are not the physical persons she is supposed to register the houses in their names. Thereafter, when the agriculture minister decided to withdraw some of her powers, Abu Zeid intentionally dissolved the three disputed cooperatives and appealed to the president of the republic who promised to support her just cause, as she alleges.  Al Akhbar wrote that after Zuaiter spelled out some of the violations made by Abu Zeid since assuming her post, both the Free Patriotic Movement and Al Marada withheld their support to her. It should be noted, that the agriculture minister will hold a press conference on the subject today. Furthermore, the president of the Maronite League, Antoine Iklimos, also had his say, claiming that raising the file in the Council of Ministers is not innocent, and voiced his concern over punishing what he described as an “ideal employee”, and a senior Christian state worker in particular. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, March 7, 2017)