The delay of the formation of the Electricity Regulatory Authority until after the amendment of the law regulating this sector, as mentioned in the draft policy statement of the new government, will be met with local and international opposition, former ministers in the governments chaired by Prime Ministers Najib Mikati, Tammam Salam, and Saad Hariri told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Countries, who participated in the CEDRE Conference - which was devoted to helping Lebanon recover from its financial and economic crisis – insisted that reforms in the electricity sector must be prioritized and that a regulatory authority must be created regardless of the amendment of the relevant electricity law.
The ministers, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, stressed that postponing the birth of this authority, as stipulated in the draft ministerial statement, would mean that the current government agreed without any hesitation to adopt the viewpoint of the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, former minister Gebran Bassil, who was met with strong opposition when he first proposed his idea under the former government.
The reform of the electricity sector was a thorny file to which the previous governments could not reach a sustainable solution.
The former ministers underscored the importance of a regulatory authority to monitor the reforms and to end of the Energy minister’s monopoly of the decision-making process.
In this context, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that parliamentary blocs, especially those currently against the government, have contacted Speaker Nabih Berri to underline the need to amend the draft policy statement in order to prevent a clash between the deputies and the ministers during the upcoming confidence session.
