Berri, Mikati win “electricity round,” Bassil loses bet on “Hezbollah”

Press Highlights
2023-01-17 | 04:06
High views
Share
LBCI
Share
LBCI
Whatsapp
facebook
Twitter
Messenger
telegram
telegram
print
Berri, Mikati win “electricity round,” Bassil loses bet on “Hezbollah”
Whatsapp
facebook
Twitter
Messenger
telegram
telegram
print
6min
Berri, Mikati win “electricity round,” Bassil loses bet on “Hezbollah”

The "police investigation" involving the families of the Beirut port explosion victims, in contrast to the European investigation into the financial suspicions surrounding the Governor of the Banque du Liban Riyad Salameh and his associates of relatives and bankers, reflected the bitter Lebanese reality that is under the influence of a corrupt system that domesticated the local judiciary to consolidate its control over state institutions, intimidate people, obscure facts, and perpetuate the principle of impunity.

 
Even if a glimmer of international justice appeared before the troubled Lebanese's eyes, the authority rushed to demonize and obstruct it for fear of exposing what is hidden in terms of corruption and financial and non-financial crimes committed against the country and its people, just as this is happening today with the European investigation into suspicions of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds.
 
 
The Palace of Justice was the scene of marathon hearings yesterday that lasted well into the evening. Saad Al-Andari, a former deputy of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, was one of the witnesses that investigators from Germany, France, and Luxembourg interrogated in front of judges Imad Kabalan and Mirna Kallas, who asked questions on behalf of the European delegation with the participation of translators who undertake the task of interpreting the answers of the witnesses.
Former member of the Banking Control Commission, Khalil Assaf, was absent from the audience with a "medical excuse."
Today's sessions will resume with the delegation hearing testimony from Ahmed Jishi, the former deputy governor and chairman of the "Al-Mawarid Bank" board of directors Marwan Khair El-Din.
On another note, yesterday saw a resumption of the "war of decrees" between the Energy Minister and the prime minister regarding the financial credits for electricity advances. 
Government sources stressed that "what has been written has been written," in reference to securing the necessary quorum for the Cabinet to convene tomorrow to approve the two electricity items "according to constitutional principles, away from mobile decrees."
Political circles observed that Speaker Nabih Berri and Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati effectively won the "electricity round" in the government confrontation with Gebran Bassil, leader of the "Free Patriotic Movement," and were able to force a second government session with "Hezbollah's" approval.
On the other hand, Bassil failed in his wager that his escalation against Hezbollah following the first session would result in Hezbollah not covering any Cabinet session again.
The same sources added expressed belief that there is a veiled message to Bassil behind Hezbollah securing the quorum for tomorrow's session, saying that "Intimidation about the dissolution of Mar Mikhael's alliance will not lead to any result."
Hezbollah also was keen, however, not to exacerbate the tension between the two sides through the choice to restrict its participation in the Cabinet to the matter of approving the two electricity items only.
In parallel, Lebanese Forces sources explained to "Nidaa Al-Watan" that the LF would have supported the cabinet meeting's convening if the agenda had been restricted to the first two items and those pertaining to the electricity file only, given the worsening harm to the state budget on the one hand, the accumulated fines as a result of not emptying the ships to date, the possibility of power outages due to the loss of fuel, and given that people need electricity. 
The same sources added that the "Lebanese Forces" party does not support the convening of this specific government session because the agenda included five items not marked by necessity and urgency.
On another note, political sources who are familiar with the French position expressed their disappointment with President Emmanuel Macron's administration's political approach to the necessary solutions to the Lebanese crisis and quoted French officials holding them directly accountable for "the failure of Macron's policy regarding the deadly standoff in Lebanon, particularly since the August 4 explosion in the Beirut port and the lax French statements regarding the dealing with the ruling political class, reaching the "strange paradox" in his recent statement, in which he praised the caretaker prime minister as a "reformer."
Accordingly, the sources concluded that "there is no chance of changing the French administration's view of the Lebanese file as long as those holding it have not changed," specifically mentioning "Emmanuel Bonne and Bernard Emié, who stand at the forefront of the French officials involved in following up on Lebanese affairs, particularly because they have reduced the historical ties and shared interests between France and Lebanon to little more than a form of "brokerage" for their friends among the latter at the expense of Lebanon and its people.
 
 
 

Breaking Headlines

Lebanon News

Press Highlights

Hezbollah

Lebanon

Mikati

Electricity

LBCI Next
The last chance: French envoy's visit and Lebanon's future
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use cookies to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More