Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed Thursday that “major hopes” are pinned on the upcoming parliamentary elections, adding that “it will be the first practical translation of the orientations of the people who rebelled in squares” in 2019, “especially the young generation.”

Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi on Thursday reassured that “no security incidents” can affect the upcoming parliamentary elections, days after two people were killed and three others were wounded in an armed clash between two families in Tripoli.

“The motives behind the Tripoli incidents were familial and no security incidents can affect the elections,” Mawlawi announced after an emergency meeting for the Central Security Council.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday signed a law adopted by parliament for including the expenses of the May 15 parliamentary polls in the 2022 state budget, the Presidency said.

Separately, Aoun met in Baabda with the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission Lebanon 2022, Gyorgy Holvenyi, and reassured him that “all measures have been taken in order to hold the elections on time, in an atmosphere of freedom, democracy and transparency.”

The head of the European Union Election Observation Mission Lebanon 2022, Gyorgy Holvenyi, met Thursday in Baabda with President Michel Aoun and announced that around 200 observers will monitor Lebanon’s May 15 parliamentary elections in a professional, transparent and impartial manner, the Lebanese Presidency said.

In a tweet, Holvenyi said he met with Aoun to “explain about the Mission and its work in fostering confidence and reinforcing the democratic process in the country.”

Lebanon’s central bank, also known as Banque du Liban (BDL), is “counting its gold reserves for the first time in at least three decades,” as the international community “pressures the cash-strapped country to evaluate its assets to qualify for a bail-out,” English-language Emirati newspaper The National reported on Thursday.

“About 20 per cent of the time-consuming exercise has been completed in the past two years,” two senior civil servants told The National.

Cabinet on Wednesday approved the energy minister’s plan for building two new power plants in the northern area of Deir Amar and the southern region of al-Zahrani.

MTV said Energy Minister Walid Fayyad also proposed setting up a plant in the northern area of Salaata, adding that the suggestion was rejected by Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Culture Minister Mohammed al-Murtada of the Amal Movement.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said Wednesday that progress has been made within the main points of the recovery plan with the International Monetary Fund.

He said at the start of a Cabinet session that the situation is challenging, adding that "we will not give up, we will carry on with the recovery plan."

A session for the joint parliamentary committees was postponed Wednesday due to lack of quorum, Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli announced.

U.S. ambassador Dorothy Shea has been reportedly quoted as saying that "some parties" have been obstructing the transfer of gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan to Lebanon, al-Akhbar newspaper said.

Informed sources have told al-Akhbar, in remarks published Wednesday, that they suspect that KSA might be the party obstructing the deal.

A preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund is likely to be reached soon, as the negotiations have made an important progress, according to al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The daily said Wednesday that, according to its sources, an initial agreement might be signed in the upcoming hours, as Prime Minister Najib Miqati will meet tomorrow with the IMF delegation, before the team leaves Friday to the U.S.