Ministers advised
to muzzle up and work

Presidents ask ministers to minimize speech

after new officials made controversial first statements

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati have asked members of the newly-appointed Cabinet to keep it quiet.

The unprecedented move comes after several ministers steered controversy over the weekend in statements they made to the media.

Hector Hajjar, Minister of Social Affairs, asked citizens to exercise extreme austerity. “In China, they don’t use diapers. They use washable napkins,” he said in a series of advises on how to reduce consumption.

Georges Cordahi, Minister of Information, requested the media not to host guests who are negative or pessimistic. “There is no absolute freedom,” he said.

Prime Minister Mikati, in a tearful statement, said that the country is like an airplane in an emergency landing. “Buckle up your seatbelts,” he said.