Future bloc MP Ghazi Youssef said that the bloc does not intend to cast a vote of no confidence since the Head of the National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumblatt will not join March 14 forces in this step. “As long as Jumblatt does not want to resort to a motion of no confidence, we cannot venture into this and risk failing”, Youssef said. The secretary general of the Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said that the opposition is not seeking to hold the government accountable, it is rather seeking to target the FPM for electoral reasons. In a statement to LBCI ahead of the discussion session, Kanaan wondered: “If they do not want to cast a vote of confidence then why they came in the first place?”
In turn, MP Robert Ghanem said “The parliament is the right place to launch a serious dialogue that could lead to a minimum level of reconciliation and openness in order to protect Lebanon and the Lebanese against regional events." Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra called for the establishment of a parliamentary investigation committee in charge of the issue of electricity. Zahra told MPs during the first general discussion session that the current cabinet is a tutelage cabinet, one that is hampering the implementation of the constitution, ignoring constitutional institutions and resisting everything that may reinforce the LAF and play in favor of the Lebanese. A hot debate erupted between Change and Reform bloc MPs and MP Marwan Hamadeh, and between MP Akram Chehayeb and minister Abu Faour on one hand, and MP Emile Rahmeh on the other. The debate erupted after Hamadeh said that the owners of Barouk’s telecommunication switch are Aounists.
Prior to the session, House Speaker Nabih Berri met with PM Najib Mikati at the Nejmeh Square.