Second day of Parliament's general policy debate over Salam government underway | LIVE

Sajih Attieh criticizes the handling of electricity issue

“There are electricity bills totaling $2.5 million a month in the Palestinian camps, and the government has taken no steps to recover them,” said Sajih Attieh, MP for Akkar.

“The electricity issue is crucial. If we cannot secure a supply of electricity, the government will have achieved nothing,” he said.

Michel Moussa believes it unlikely that motion of confidence will be tabled

MP Michel Moussa, who belongs to the bloc led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told Sawt Kel Lebnan radio that he considered it unlikely that a motion of confidence in the government would be tabled on Wednesday. “The political climate does not suggest that we are heading in that direction,” he said.

“It is not on the agenda at the moment. The priority must be to strengthen the government’s action, not to provoke an internal political confrontation,” said Moussa.

Paula Yaacoubian: 'What happened at Ali Taher?'

Paula Yaacoubian, the independent MP for Beirut, has called on the government to assert its authority in southern Lebanon. “We want to ask the government, of which Hezbollah is a part, what happened at Ali Taher?" said Yaacoubian.

"Why is the unoccupied part of southern Lebanon not being handed over to the government and the Lebanese Army?" she asked. “Why does Hezbollah not hand over a list of its weapons to the Lebanese negotiators so that they can secure a withdrawal and the return of the displaced?” she added. “The army has a great many responsibilities and must be supported,” the MP went on to say, condemning the ongoing Israeli strikes on the town of Mansouri (Sour).

On the economic front, Paula Yaacoubian stated that there is “no alternative but to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund [IMF]."

She also raised the issue of Électricité du Liban (EDL), calling on the courts to take action to recover one billion dollars in connection with this case.

Bassil, Hezbollah, criticize Salam government

As in July 2025, the debate was called for by the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Gebran Bassil. Highly critical of the government — in which his party is not represented — he once again called for a vote of confidence in the Cabinet to be put to MPs.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Batroun MP criticized the Lebanese state’s subservience to "foreign powers" and the inability of Hezbollah, a former political ally of the FPM, "to defend Lebanon."

Hezbollah also criticized the state for having “signed a framework agreement drafted with Israeli ink on American paper,” prompting Netanyahu to declare: “Thank you to the Lebanese government for allowing us to remain in Lebanon.”

Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab (formerly FPM), also criticized this framework agreement, concluded last June between Lebanon and Israel under U.S. auspices, which provides for Hezbollah's disarmament alongside the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon.

“So far, we have not understood what the framework agreement entails. We would like the Prime Minister to explain to us what it entails and what we hope to achieve through it,” he said. Ali Hassan Khalil, an Amal MP, criticized the “results” of the negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv.

What happened yesterday: In Parliament, Berri steers the debate to let Salam defend his government

Catch up on yesterday plenary session in Parliament here.

Salam reviews human and economic toll of Israel's war

Speaking on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed the consequences of the war that re-escalated on March 2, estimating its cost so far at “3 to 4 billion dollars”, excluding the economic fallout, which he put at between 4 and 5 billion dollars. In total, the economic cost of the two wars “could exceed 27 billion dollars,” he added.

The human toll stands at “4,000 killed and 12,000 injured since March 2” and “9,000 killed and more than 30,000 injured since Oct. 8, 2023”, the date on which the first of the last two wars began.

The war also displaced more than one million people and destroyed “tens of thousands of homes.”

Faced with this situation, Salam told MPs that he would not be addressing them “with a view to justifying” anything.

Salam further stated that his government’s objective is not “to manage population movements,” but to “enable residents to return to their lands” in southern Lebanon, more than 600 km² of which are currently occupied — and razed to the ground — by Israel.

Whilst the government has been reviewing the draft budget for the 2027 financial year since last week, ahead of its submission to Parliament, Salam stated that “the state is not being asked to spend more, but to spend more wisely.”

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Parliament's plenary session

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second day of Parliament's plenary session, held by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Today’s session began at 11 am.

This is the second general policy debate on Nawaf Salam's government, following the one in July 2025, five months after the formation of his new government. The previous one took place in 2017. On that occasion, the cabinet secured a vote of confidence from Parliament.

Yesterday’s sitting ended at 3 p.m. and was marked by disputes over the length of speeches and the rules governing debates.

Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, in particular, sought to respond immediately to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, launching into a speech critical of him before being interrupted by independent MP Paula Yacoubian, a critic of Hezbollah.

More than ten MPs have already spoken.