Bassil: What happened at the parliament today is a heresy

Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said on Thursday that 10 MPs affiliated with the March 14 camp submitted a draft law, promising the EDL contract workers to grant them tenure “in a bid to stall [our work].”       

The MPs include Mohammad Qabbani, Antoine Zahra, Ammar Houri, Antoine Saad, Fadi Habr, Samer Saadeh and Ayoub Hamid.     

During a press conference, Bassil said that those lawmakers encouraged the contract workers to call for tenure, which “dealt a blow to the standards of competence at the public administration.”      

Bassil stressed that what happened at the parliament today is “a heresy and lie” that are now over.

Bassil added “we will work on setting a ceiling [for the numbers of contract worker that should be granted tenure]; and we will not exceed this number in line with the company’s requirements.”

In turn, MP Ibrahim Kanaan said “no one can prevent any MP from attending any committee meeting”, adding that this matter prompted the withdrawal of the Change and Reform bloc MPs from the joint committees meeting today.