Parliament to Convene Thursday to Address Electricity Law

Speaker Nabih Berri called parliament to session on Thursday in order for it to address various pending issues, including the electricity file.

He also called on the joint parliamentary committees to convene on Wednesday in order to tackle the electricity draft law.

Voice of Lebanon radio reported that Berri may head Wednesday’s session.

The joint parliamentary committees had convened on Monday to address the electricity plan, but verbal disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 MPs forced the session to be postponed to Wednesday.

The draft law will likely be put to a vote during Wednesday’s session, MTV reported.

The meeting of the joint committees was aimed at approving the electricity draft law to refer it to a legislative session for final endorsement.

Talks witnessed a heated debate between the two sides following an intense session last week over the technical and financial aspects of the $1.2 billion plan.

March 14 has criticized the bill for excluding the details of the original draft law that was approved by the cabinet on September 7, but sources close to Premier Najib Miqati rejected accusations of “duality” in the government’s stance.

The cabinet will strongly defend the electricity project in parliament, the sources told An Nahar daily, although they stressed that it is up to parliament to introduce changes to the draft law or adopt it as it was referred to it by the government.