Electricity Bill Debate Likely to Reach Cabinet in Baabda Session
The cabinet met at Baabda palace at 10:30 am Thursday as Energy Minister Jebran Bassil will ask the government to make its stance clear on a controversial electricity draft law discussed in parliament the day before, As Safir daily said.
Bassil is expected to tell cabinet ministers that they should have a unanimous stance on the bill or else it would fail in its first important test since its formation, the newspaper reported.
On Wednesday, parliament witnessed a heated debate between March 8 and 14 lawmakers over the draft law proposed by Change and Reform bloc leader Michel Aoun to allow the energy ministry to raise a $1.2 billion fund to build plants to produce 700 megawatts of power.
In an attempt to resolve the impasse, the government decided to prepare a detailed draft on the proposal.
The cabinet session would be held ahead of an Iftar banquet thrown by President Michel Suleiman in honor of political and religious figures at Baabda palace.
Suleiman is expected to stress in his speech the importance of national dialogue to consolidate the local situation and preserve it from the repercussions of the regional turmoil.
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