The ministerial panel tasked with studying a plan to end the country's chronic electricity problem held a “very position” meeting on Tuesday, Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah said, confirming that the option of renting power generating ships to cover the current production deficit is no longer on the table.

Energy Minister Nada al-Bustani “submitted a paper in which she chronologically specified the steps that need an agreement in order for the plan to move forward,” Jarrah added, noting that another session will be held at 3:00 pm Wednesday.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc warned Tuesday that “Lebanon and its economy cannot bear any delay in approving the electricity plan.”

“All options are on the table” as to the tendering process, MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the bloc's weekly meeting.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday warned that some parties are still insisting on making shady deals in the electricity file.

“It is not only the LF that is raising remarks over the electricity plan but rather the entire universe, from the CEDRE donors to the World Bank and the European Central Bank to political parties and every citizen from the northern border to the southern border. They are all calling for a healthy and drastic solution for the electricity file that would end wastage and restore power feed,” Geagea said in an interview with the Central News Agency.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri received on Tuesday at the Grand Serail the U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Richard where discussions addressed the local and regional developments as well as the bilateral relations, Hariri’s press office said.

Hizbullah on Monday expressed its “pride” in President Michel Aoun's stances at the Arab League summit that was held Sunday in Tunisia.

In a statement issued by its media relations department, the party said it was proud of “the national and nationalist stances that were expressed by His Excellency President Michel Aoun regarding Lebanon, Palestine and the Golan, and his insistence on the return of Syrian refugees to their country in a manner that would preserve the interests of Lebanon and Syria.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat held talks Monday at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has resumed his official functions after undergoing a heart stent procedure in Paris.

Jumblat was accompanied by his son MP Taymour Jumblat and Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday presided over a meeting for a ministerial panel tasked with studying a plan to solve the country's chronic electricity problem.

The meeting was attended by Deputy PM Ghassan Hasbani, the ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Jamal al-Jarrah, Akram Shehayyeb, Mohammed Fneish, Youssef Fenianos, Camille Abu Suleiman, Nada al-Bustani and Adel Afiouni, Cabinet secretary-general Mahmoud Makkiyeh, World Bank representatives and a number of advisers.

Progressive Socialist Party chief ex-MP Walid Jumblat lamented Monday that “it seems that some do not want to learn from the lessons and experiences of the past which resulted in tragedies.”

“We have returned to the theory of protecting minorities instead of focusing on the importance of being citizens,” Jumblat tweeted, while stressing the importance of “the March 1, 2017 al-Azhar declaration between Pope Francis and al-Azhar's imam.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected to visit Tripoli days before parliamentary by-elections begin in the northern town, in a support move for the campaign led by Secretary-General of al-Mustaqbal Movement Ahmad Hariri and candidate Dima Jamali, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

Speaker Nabih Berri held a meeting on Monday in Iraq with the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in the presence of various political, religious and ethnic groups, media reports said.