Written by Marie Khoury

Translated by Lynn Waked

NNA - All eyes are on Télé Liban, Lebanon's official television channel, to keep up with the rescue plan aimed at re-launching the channel in a new look, following a judicial decision Caretaker Information Minister Walid Daouk obtained, by which the judge appointed Talal Makdessi as the new Chairperson of the channel, which was experiencing a state of weakness that might have excluded it from the media sight.

Will this plan resuscitate Télé Liban, reclaim its audience and rescue it from the monotony it drowned in?

Will Télé Liban come back to the fore? Will it restore its golden age when it used to depict Lebanon's glamorous image to the world?

Answering these questions is not simple now, for this channel that formed the political and cultural memory of Lebanon and documented the country's most important events, has always been successful when the state was strong and feeble when the state was weak.

Caretaker Minister of Information Walid Daouk explained the circumstances of taking the judicial decision and said it was adopted within a quasi-vacuum situation the channel was facing.

He said that this vacuum was hindering administrative decisions, especially when the law stipulated the need of ensuring the work consistency of public institutions.

"Monitoring committees as well as the Judiciary will accompany the work of the CEO and the administrative board of the channel. I recall in this regard that the appointment of the new CEO stretches over an undetermined period. However, when the government will be formed, we do hope that members of the new Board of Directors would be promptly appointed to have this board execute its comprehensive skills," the Minister said.

"Competition with the private television channels needs time. I hope that the channel gives more importance to regional and domestic affairs thereof, in its cultural and awareness programs" he explained.

With reference to the news bulletin issue, the Minister said that the new Board has henceforth large skills in matters of management for a limited reporting period. However, according to these prerogatives, the Board is capable of appointing new employees and improving the image of the channel.

"We shall succeed in improving the news bulletin to let it become more global, in cooperation with France 24 and other parties. We will build a new studio and diffuse the news of all political parties, with a large margin of independence. Information will be diffused to Lebanon, its regions and communities."

As for the financing of the channel, the minister reminded that the country was ruled by a resigned and caretaker government.

"I made several contacts with President Michel Sleiman and outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi and we agreed on allocating huge sums to Télé Liban. The amount of money will be discussed at the end of the study carried out in this respect, he said.

The minister denied in this context leaked information on the difficulties in paying employees' salaries.

"This information is untrue. I myself had taken the decision to provide necessary funding to pay the wages and carry out the needed maintenance. The payment of these amounts has never been suspended. I forbade financing new programs to prevent corruption when I noticed that there was a waste of money after that a program was produced and then sold to the private sector without taking into consideration the interests of the Lebanese state. I then decided to reduce the credits allocated to Télé Liban to the minimum, he remarked.

Information Minister stressed the importance of the project to preserve the channel's archives.

"I count on the aid of the private sector, in which some enterprises attach great importance to the project, especially that the archive is a treasure for Lebanon. We have received a grant from the Swiss government, which covered the expenses of a study conducted by two foreign experts on how to save the archive of and its deplorable situation," he said.

He also explained that the archives' project would take between three to five years.

"I believe I put this project on track and I hope that the needed funds would be ensured in the nearest time," he said.

On the topic of producing new programs and TV shows, the Minister said that it was not of his priorities.

He said he was seeking to rehabilitate the buildings of the channel and its studios in Hazmieh so as to re-launch works there.

"Projects of cooperation shall be drawn between Télé Liban, the French and Chinese states," he added.

As for his part the new CEO of Télé Liban, Talal Makdessi, expressed great determination to work to transform the national channel into a successful company, similarly to MEA.

To face all hurdles, Makdessi is armed with the permission of officials, the competency and credibility.

Makdessi said that Télé Liban was the bridge between different parts of Lebanon.

He voiced determination to cooperate with all sides to rescue Lebanon's official television channel, since he enjoyed the freedom to act herein.

"Télé Liban has been managed for a certain period in the same management way of the state institutions. Today, the work and competence of the employees will be re-evaluated. Executives will be rehabilitated and trained before we turn to new employees. On the technical side, Télé Liban is the only channel in the world that does not operate as per the digital system (...) We adopt modern techniques, but this decision depends on the will of the state to wanting a national channel that would represent Lebanon and the Lebanese abroad and provide them with real information," he said.

He voiced determination to cooperate with all sides to rescue Lebanon's official television channel, since he enjoyed the freedom to act herein.

"Télé Liban has been managed for a certain period in the same management way of the state institutions. Today, the work and competence of the employees will be re-evaluated. Executives will be rehabilitated and trained before we turn to new employees. On the technical side, Télé Liban is the only channel in the world that does not operate as per the digital system (...) We adopt modern techniques, but this decision depends on the will of the state to wanting a national channel that would represent Lebanon and the Lebanese abroad and provide them with real information," he said.

Concerning the news bulletins, Makdessi said that information will be diffused in an objective way, while preserving the right of concerned parties to respond to the news being diffused.

"The offices in Hazmieh, where the archives are present, cannot be used. We are currently working in the buildings of Tallet al Khayyat, awaiting the rehabilitation of the Hazmieh offices that extend on 4000 m2.

The archives will be transported to our offices in Sin el Fil, so that we can rehabilitate those of Hazmieh," Makdessi added.

He voiced hopes for cooperation between Télé Liban and the National News Agency, in favor of the information sector's integrity in Lebanon.