A ministerial meeting aimed at finding a solution to the electricity crisis is expected to be held at the Grand Serail on Monday after allegedly progress was made on a proposal to end the standoff.

Ministerial sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Tuesday that during a previous meeting under Premier Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, several suggestions were made to end the dispute on a draft law proposed by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun that calls for allocating $1.2 billion to Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has accused cabinet members of “putting sticks in the wheels” of the electricity project proposed by his father-in-law Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

“Rather than putting sticks in the wheels of this project, we would have wished that they came to us to speed up its implementation,” Bassil told As Safir daily in remarks published Tuesday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has reiterated that his insistence to form a technical committee to oversee the spending of $1.2 billion on an electricity project has no political motive.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Tuesday, Jumblat said: “The electricity issue is not at all political. It is purely a technical and legal issue.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat congratulated on Monday all officials, clergymen, and citizens on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

On this note, he saluted the families of resistance fighters whose sons were martyred in the July 2006 war.

The Free Patriotic Movement and Progressive Socialist Party have toned down their rhetoric but continued to hold onto their stances on the electricity draft law that has threatened disunity in the cabinet.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, who is FPM chief Michel Aoun’s son-in-law, told As Safir daily that he is ready to give more explanations to cabinet ministers on the electricity project to find the suitable solution to the crisis.

Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas confirmed on Monday that he was tasked with bridging differences among top officials on an electricity project that has threatened the unity of the government.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Nahhas said Premier Najib Miqati urged him to hold consultations with officials in an attempt to find a consensual formula ahead of a Sept. 7 cabinet session to discuss the electricity draft law.

President Michel Suleiman on Sunday visited Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat at the Mukhtara palace, following talks on Saturday between the two men at the Beiteddine Palace.

Talks in Mukhtara tackled the latest political developments in Lebanon and the region, state-run National News Agency reported.

Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas is conducting behind the scenes contacts with various officials in order to prepare the suitable conditions to hold the cabinet session on September 7, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Nahhas, representing Premier Najib Miqati, has so far held talks with President Michel Suleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.

The Progressive Socialist Party will not become a follower and refuses to allow Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to spend $1.2 billion to build power plants without the control of a technical committee, PSP sources said.

The sources of PSP leader Walid Jumblat told the Saudi al-Riyadh daily in remarks published Friday that all it is asking from Bassil is to form a committee to supervise under the leadership of the minister the spending of the money.

A solution to the electricity crisis could come through calm dialogue among the bickering parties, sources close to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said insisting that the differences with the Free Patriotic Movement were not political.

The sources told several Beirut newspapers published Thursday that the timeframe ahead of the Sept. 7 cabinet session could pave way for a deal on the electricity bill to allocate $1.2 billion dollars to Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to generate 700 megawatts of electricity.