Ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun have accused Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat’s representatives in the cabinet of turning the electricity crisis into a political struggle.

“Ninety percent of the plan has been discussed and only the political problem stirred by MP Walid Jumblat remains under discussion,” FPM sources said in remarks published in several Beirut dailies.

President Michel Suleiman has warned cabinet ministers against division on a controversial electricity bill, saying the government shouldn’t collapse over “technical” differences between ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat.

Suleiman’s sources told As Safir daily published Thursday that the president’s warning came during a 10-minute cabinet session held at the Baabda palace.

Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet was in tatters on Thursday after differences between Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on a controversial electricity bill spiraled out of control.

There was little hope that the cabinet would endorse the electricity plan on Sept. 7. On Wednesday, the government again failed to reach an agreement on the bill.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held talks Wednesday at his Clemenceau residence with a delegation from Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council, in the presence of ministers Ghazi Aridi and Wael Abu Faour and the PSP’s deputy chief for foreign affairs Dureid Yaghi.

Delegation member Abdullah al-Zaidani handed Jumblat an invitation to visit Libya and a letter of gratitude from National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

Disputes erupted at cabinet on Wednesday between ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party over the electricity draft law that was proposed by FPM leader MP Michel Aoun.

Ministerial sources told the Central News Agency that the electricity file was set as a priority, but talks soon took a sour turn as the FPM and PSP ministers accused the other of adopting a militia mentality and seeking to impose their will by force.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has stressed that cabinet ministers have no longer excuses to reject a $1.2 billion electricity plan after he provided answers to the contentious clauses of the project.

“Everything has become clear,” Bassil said in remarks to As Safir daily published Wednesday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said on Wednesday that his ministers are expecting further explanations to elude any doubts they have on the electricity draft law.

The draft law proposed by MP Michel Aoun and backed by his son-in-law Energy Minister Jebran Bassil calls for earmarking $1.2 billion to the minister to build plants that would produce 700 Megawatts of electricity.

A cabinet session aimed at discussing a controversial electricity plan was postponed to September 7 after ministers failed again to agree on the allocation of $1.2 billion to Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.

President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati held closed door talks ahead of the session at Baabda palace. Later, Ministers Bassil, Mohammed Fneish and Ali Hassan Khalil joined them.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated on Monday that the imprisonment of a people intellectually and ideologically is no longer possible because it contradicts diversity that acts as the main guarantee for the survival of societies.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The third dictator in the popular revolution has fallen and with him falls the theory of one-party rule that has demonstrated its historic failure before the will of the people who are longing for freedom, democracy, and dignity.”

The cabinet is not willing to allow Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to spend $1.2 billion on an electricity project without having control on the funds, An Nahar daily reported Monday.

The controversial project will be discussed at a ministerial meeting held at the Grand Serail on Monday afternoon, a day before a cabinet session to be held at Baabda palace.