Berri: Cabinet Won’t Collapse Over Electricity Crisis

Speaker Nabih Berri warned on Monday against widening the dispute over the electricity project, stressing that a breakthrough must be achieved to solve this vital issue that concerns all the Lebanese, As Safir newspaper reported.

“It should be an issue that unites (all the Lebanese) not divides them,” Berri told his visitors.

He said that the dispute over the electricity draft law was at the beginning technical but it turned out to be political.

The speaker stressed that the officials are working to find a solution. He expressed belief that this dispute will not “blow up” the cabinet and the situation will “remain under control.”

Berri warned that if the electricity problem wasn’t solved “those who support it (the government) will become against it.”

His visitors quoted him as saying: “I call on the cabinet to work on the electricity, oil resources and appointments issue.”

They told An Nahar newspaper that Berri had suggested to PM Najib Miqati a solution for the electricity crisis that included tasking the cabinet with the supervision of the project’s expenditures; at the same time the Energy Minister can keep his tasks and responsibilities.

Berri noted that Lebanon has international responsibilities that it has to address properly after it headed the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for September.