Bassil Warns Cabinet over Attempts to Block Electricity Bill, Slams Opposition’s Stance

Ya tu2boorleh 2albi. M14 is now the minority, therefore some of, or most of, your own allies do not feel comfortable giving you 1.2 billion dollars for which you will have no accountability. stop blaming the m14 camp, they are not here to make your life easier in getting the riches you dream of daily. maybe it is your allies you should go down on harder than m14??? you say the former govt proposed the same bill. if i remember you were still the minister, why did your allies block it then? if you ask me i think they want the 1.2 billion so they can run away with it when the syrian govt falls...lolol. pay for your own escape.

Your idea of democracy is stupid...the only types of bills that can bring down a government are major things such as the budget or a vote of confidence.

I agree with the base of what "ithinkthere14iam" but i don't agree with the way it was said...
It's really funny how some people can't take responsibility for their shortcomings. unlike the previous govt where the majority was not a real one due to the Veto power of the minority, today's minority opted (in hindsight a smart move) not to accept a a Veto power. So anything not done by today's majority is their own issue and they should thus own up to it.
Enough with the political games and BS, politicians of all factions should start being held accountable. I would respect more Jebran Bassil if he learned from the mistakes of his father in law and stopped talking nonsense.

While all other countries are building green energy plants, we as forward thinking as we are, are looking to build fuel guzzling, smoke belching monsters!!!
We will never become civilized.

Everytime I see your face I remember a weasel. I personally wouldn't trust you with a penny. It's actually funny seeing you and your overlord squirm, and even funnier when your own allies are the cause of it.

Bassil should not assume Lebanese are stupid to believe Hizbollah’s rockets are protecting Lebanese maritime gas fields. The only protection comes from respecting international laws and maintaining good relations with civilized world. Lebanese should know that Hizb arms have already reduced by half the value of any gas fields in our maritime borders. First because day-to-day cost for security protection and insurance of floating oil platforms in a non-peaceful environment is extremely expensive. Second, because oil corporations demand a much higher rate of return to invest in a non-peaceful environment. So thanks to Hizbollah’s rockets, our oil field have lost over half their values to any investor compared to what they would be worth if Lebanon was a sovereign nation. So Don Quixote Bassil, please stop lying to the people and explain to them why US and European bonds pay less than 1% interest whereas Iran despite its oil reserves borrows at around 16% interest. Ask Nassim Taleb!

This stupid prat has the cheek to say that M14 is targeting the Lebanese people through vengeful acts, but his political camp wadn't when they brought to a standstill all political life for a year and a half and shut down parliament, occupied the downtown area for that long, and ruined thousands of livelihoods, cut roads, burned tyres, occupied illegally property, etc....this os how you protect peoples rights! And one should remember that had the Hizb not have weapons, all those thugs would have been sprayed with water cannons..and sent back where they belong! So this minister should keep in mind that (hopefully) he may not be allowed to lay his hands on a 1,2 billion dollars kitty!

you people are so stupid,
its for your benifit you bunch of idiots
wake up and stop talking shit
im an australian and even i know how desperate lebanon is for electricty,
just because the people you use follow couldnt be trusted it doesnt mean everyone is the same,
dont bother comenting back cause i dont give a shit what any of use have to say,

Spot on Adam, even if he puts some of it in his pocket but at least provides the lebanese citizens with electricity that would be great. Unfortunately corruption drips from each and every politician we have irrespective of which group they belong too. Oh and one more thing, loosen up people, quit all that hatred talk, we are all lebanese (human beings) quit being sheep behin any group.

@adam
Since you live in Australia do us a favor and improve your English writing.
And be sure that we don't give the shit out of your comment, bloody stupid.

@Gebran Sons for Cedar Revolution II in 2013: Without Hizbullah missiles, you will loose all your gaz fields (like you lost your land before) not only the half of it's amount. -- Don't tell me international laws and UN security council, i will be laughing on your silliness.

I don't see that the current rulers are all angels, but Mr. Rafiq Hariri, was the manager of the Lebanese country for years and things were getting worse year after year (if he was a good and honest manager he should left the position to someone else since the Syrian were interfering in his job and not letting him help the Lebanese people, but dept was increasing and things were getting worse )

For the current project, I think having the electricity 24/24 in all Lebanon will help a lot the Lebanese economy , in direct and indirect ways.. It is much more important than spending billions on the Airport. And the role of the current opposition is to Audit how the 1.2 billions dollars are spent.

Adam, since you think "so highly" of the lebanese why are you bothering commenting ?!?
No one is arguing that Lebanon is in dire need for electricity; most comments are directed at how Jebran Bassil is blaming the opposition when his allies are the ones that didn't pass the bill... They have a majority!

Funny. I never heard debates on a comprehensive approach to the power problems in Lebanon. There's a long list. Conversion of existing plants to Natural Gas. potential for De-bottlenecking. Privatization to credible international operators (independent of course of local politickings...). Allowing independent power producers. Government incentives for renewable energy projects. Lebanon has decent solar energy potential. How about waste to energy instead of leaching our garbage to the beautiful Mediterranean sea all the way to Cyprus?

These things of course will never happen as long as we have this rotten, corrupt, primitive medieval society, full of individualistic people with no sense of what a Nation should be, and blindsided by religion and self-interest.

M14, M8, who cares. All the same and the problems need a solution at the core. New legal framework. New constitution. Secular government.

Adam, you are not Australian. You'll be Australian when the following two conditions will be verified:

1. You learn the English language and improve your grammar
2. When you learn how to be civilized and recognize that other people's opinions may be valid, instead of adopting the "I don't give a shit about what you say" position

Just read the other posts at the bottom of this article and compare it to you own. Everybody else explained their point of you. You are the only one talking trash without proper argumentation.

My dear Adam. If you haven' t come to grips with the way politics work in Lebanon welcome on the boat. Two may factors are driving the political managment model: fear and greed. Fear and that's litteraly the casr, for fear in really about death threats no less than that in this instance, and greed, in that any decision is taken according to the marginal potential direct pocket gain to the decision maker! Mr Bassil , the failed engineer, go keeps him to his father in law, is no Einstein. Many before him have worked on this file and broken their teeth, for it is a vast garbage filthy political dump! Can anyone believe that the golden mine for any State anywhere in the world , is that kind of money grinder in Lebanon!

Why does not Bassil speak the truth. What is the real problem of the electricity in Lebanon? Like any institution, the EDL has expenses and incomes. Incomes are collected from the population and expenses comes between others from the salaries of employees. There is an important part of the population (more than the thrid according to performed statistics) who consumes electricity without paying, and living mainly in areas out of control of the state. Their buildings are not even equipped with the consumption monitoring devices that are mandatory for all homes. Many tried to speak out about the subject but they were quickly hushed up. An arrivist like Aounallah cannot be honest and put his finger in the wounds.

Great Bill for Lebanon and electricity situation.
BUT, the issue is transparency.
Why auditing is not acceptable....?
Why spending spree at your pace and freedom?
Are more than half the Lebanon Parliament blind ????? to oppose the Bill ???
No , they are just normal citizen who want transparency ???
Your father in law is now asking to occupy the Parliament....This is democracy ????
You are preparing to fail the government if the Bill does not pass ????
This is plain empty threat...
Prepare your tent and have it in front of the parliament....do not forget the candles ???

Very sad and tragically funny.

How about starting to collect electricity bills from regions that never pay instead of providing them with more free electricity and increasing the country's deficit even more... when you thought that our politicians couldn't get any dumber..

One thing I d like to bring back to memories, is how in the mid 90's when the director general of the EDL got fed up and published names of some politicians who were not paying their bills, and complained openly about the security issues linked to the electricity bills collection (read my lips!) he got then removed from office and placed temporarily with the prime minister's office then ,RH. We never heard of this honest guy's fate thereafter. His long career with EDL came to an abrupt end. This is how these guys manage secretly the EDL file to keep it a no go territory, just like Dahyie is!

It's funny that although the issue of no accountability with the funds was raised yesterday he does not even mention that or make any attempts to assure those with concerns. He simply attacks any who would appose him as being against the Lebanese people. Typical.

this guy and his father in law are trying to portray the problem as being M14 & M8 when the actual issue is his Block against all of Lebanon...

If his block was the only block in parliament, I am sure they will still have problems in passing a bill that will not hold any person accountable for the money being spent

What he failed to mention is that Thibran wants this bill to provide $1.2 billion dollars to be spent on power plants without any adult supervision of the Energy Minister, that is, Thibran Bassil. Who in their right mind would entrust this much money to the unbridled discretion of this guy?? Obviously not even all of the members of the M8 Parliamentary Majority. Why jump on M14 Deputies?? They are in the minority. Why not castigate your M8 fellow travelers Thibran, you can't get your allies to trust you, how can you expect to have your political opponents trust you? Only one person would trust you with this much money to be spent at your unsupervised discretion, your father in law Michel Aoun, who, of course, is not in his right mind.

Is it possible that some people can still believe that imbassil is honest after he has amassed already several millions?????

What a j...