Ministers discussed electricity reform, the Ukraine conflict and the purchasing of wheat in today's cabinet session

BEIRUT – Cabinet on Friday gave its "initial agreement" to an electricity plan proposed by Energy Minister Walid Fayad, and discussed several other issues.

Here’s what we know:

    • Education Minister and Acting Information Minister Abbas Halabi said after the session that "electricity tariffs will be increased once the hours of power supply reach eight or 10 hours a day, and it is going to take into consideration people with limited income.” Halabi also said that the government "is committed to gradually modifying electricity tariffs in parallel with the improvement of the power supply.”

    • In its meeting, cabinet also discussed Lebanon’s official position on the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Yesterday, Lebanon condemned the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine. The government also devoted funds intended for the purchase of 50,000 tons of wheat. Lebanon is heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian wheat imports.

    • Several ministers criticized the official Foreign Affairs Ministry statement issued the day before. This statement had "strongly condemned the invasion of Ukrainian territory and called on Russia to immediately halt its military operations, withdraw its forces and return to dialogue and negotiations.”

    • Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram, who is affiliated with Hezbollah, said that the "document violates the principle of neutrality advocated by the government,” and criticized the fact that "there were no discussions on this topic.”

    • The government also decided to extend the mandate of the commission in charge of supervising parliamentary elections, and appointed three new members to replace those who had submitted their resignation.

    • Yesterday, the interior minister announced after a meeting with President Michel Aoun that he will present a plan regarding the creation of electoral ‘megacenters’ for voters during the upcoming elections, so residents of Beirut and its suburbs, most of whom are not originally from the area, do not have to travel to faraway villages in order to vote.