Opposition Adamant to Introduce Amendments to Electricity Bill

The head of the parliamentary public works, transportation, energy and waters committee Mohammed Qabbani stressed that the March 14-led opposition will seek to introduce amendments to an electricity draft law during the crucial meeting of parliament’s joint committees on Monday.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, Qabbani said the opposition will insist on its demands to introduce the changes to the bill and make it in harmony with the original draft law that was approved by the government earlier in the month.

He said that the opposition is seeking to include several issues in the draft law, including the formation of the electricity regulatory authority within three months and the appointment of the Electricite du Liban board of directors within a year, as approved by the cabinet.

March 14 is also asking for a written though brief explanation on the production and distribution of power along with a timetable and the environmental impact of the $1.2 billion project that intends to generate 700 Megawatts of electricity.

In remarks to al-Liwaa newspaper, Qabbani didn’t want to speculate on the outcome of the meeting of joint committees but said the MPs could resort to voting or postponement due to lack of quorum.

When asked by Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) about reports that the finance ministry has drafted a new law that it would propose during Monday’s session, the MP said he didn’t have any information about it.

But he reiterated that the March 14 forces were calling for the introduction in the draft law of an article on the government role in seeking for Arab and international donors to fund the $1.2 billion project.