The reform of the electricity sector has drawn local and international attention, amid criticism over the new government’s strategy to deal with the file, which was reflected in its policy statement.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday said the state should adopt the electricity plan that has been successfully implemented in the Zahle region.
“Why is this file not being handled in the same way as in Zahle?” Berri asked during his weekly parliamentary bloc meeting in Ain el-Tineh.
The Parliament speaker was referring to the Zahle Electricity Company, which obtained a concession from the state to operate the sector in the city, while undertaking collection and maintenance, in exchange for purchasing electricity from the government.
Berri also revealed that the owners of five Lebanese banks have sent their “personal money” abroad, estimated at $2.3 billion, despite the informal banking restrictions that have been imposed on depositors since November.
Berri emphasized that the current situation could not bear “putting more burdens on people, the homeland, and the institutions.”
“The national duty obliges us all to appease the atmosphere and create the appropriate circumstances to restore normal political life in line with law and constitution,” he said, adding: “We are before a real chance for salvation. We either seize it, or we let it go and fail.”
The policy statement, which was approved by the government on Thursday, hinted at postponing the formation of the Electricity Regulatory Authority until after the amendment of the law regulating this sector.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni has tried in vain to adjust this item during the ministerial panel sessions that preceded the adoption of the statement, in order to separate the formation of the Authority from the law amendment.
Meanwhile, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said during a televised news conference Wednesday that reform was a necessary condition for the international community to aid Lebanon, adding that it is “shameful, for example, that the electricity situation remains the same.”
He added that the reforms “must be accompanied by deadlines for implementation.”
