The members of parliament during the general policy debate at the Parliament, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Credit: Hussein Ibrahim / website of the Lebanese Parliament)
BEIRUT — The second parliamentary session on Wednesday was, unsurprisingly, like the day before, marked by heated exchanges over Hezbollah’s disarmament. But lawmakers also focused on socio-economic issues, with the 2027 budget expected to come before Parliament soon. MPs from various political camps voiced concerns about the imposition of new taxes, with Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Melhem Riachi warning of a “harsh winter” and “another thawra,” referring to the 2019 popular uprising. Simon Abi Ramia, formerly of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM, Aounist), said the country was “on the verge of a social explosion.”
Shortly before the session, Michel Moussa, a member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s bloc, had already said that a motion of censure was unlikely to be introduced during the session. “This is not on the agenda for now. The priority should be to strengthen government action, not to open an internal political confrontation,” he told Sawt Kel Lebnan radio.
Clash between LF and Hezbollah, Joumblatt reacts
A speech by Michel Moawad sparked a war of words between the Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah. The independent Zgharta MP argued that “Hezbollah’s losing wars bring about [Israeli] occupation” and criticized the fact that “even Ali Taher, which was presented as Stalingrad, was handed over to the Israelis by Hezbollah instead of to the Lebanese Army.”
Hezbollah MP Ihab Hamadeh called for parts of Moawad’s speech to be struck from the record. “It is not allowed to say such things in Parliament. Go find out who brought the Israelis into the country. You have lied to the people,” LF MP Ziad Hawat shot back. “Some of our colleagues think Israel is not an enemy,” Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said, interrupting Hawat.
Reacting to the exchange, Druze leader Walid Joumblatt wrote on X that “this flood of accusations and invectives exchanged in Parliament leads to nothing.” “The roadmap for the future must therefore be based on the statements of [President Joseph] Aoun and [Prime Minister Nawaf] Salam, both in their assessment of the current situation and in how to address it,” he wrote.
More broadly, the divide between Hezbollah MPs and their opponents was evident throughout the session. “Why is the non-occupied part of south Lebanon not handed over to the government and the Lebanese Army?” asked independent Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian. “Why doesn’t Hezbollah hand over the map of its weapons to Lebanese negotiators so they can seek a withdrawal and the return of the displaced?” she added.
“We hear criticism of Hezbollah, but after everything that has happened, they must acknowledge their responsibilities,” said another independent Beirut MP, Ibrahim Mneimneh.
Kataeb MP for Metn Elias Hankash called for “implementation of the disarmament resolution in Metn, as in Beirut and other Lebanese regions.” “How can we tolerate the presence in our mountains of training camps belonging to remnants of the Assad regime and other groups?” he asked.
For the LF, Melhem Riashi asked, “When and how can the government’s decision on the monopoly on weapons be implemented?” Antoine Habshi, meanwhile, accused “certain officials of having covered for Hezbollah’s weapons.”
Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Moussaoui sarcastically told Habshi to “go buy weapons and arm the Lebanese Army.”
Another Hezbollah MP, Raed Berro, paid tribute to the party’s “resistance fighters” at Ali Taher, claiming that Hezbollah had “prevented the enemy from achieving a feat,” despite the Israeli army seizing the ridge earlier this month and destroying Hezbollah tunnels beneath it.
The MP also criticized the government, which plans to allocate “zero” to the army in the 2027 budget.
Electricity issue under scrutiny
Socio-economic issues were another key theme of the session. From the outset, Akkar MP Sajih Attieh criticized the management of the electricity sector, saying that “electricity bills amount to $2.5 million a month in Palestinian camps, but the government has not taken steps to collect them.”
“If we don’t manage to get electricity, the government has done nothing,” he said, as state-run Electricité du Liban (EDL) provides an average of only six hours of electricity per day.
On the same issue, independent MP Adib Abdel Massih called on the authorities to “implement a short-term plan so citizens can feel the difference in the power supply.” Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Imad Hout said that the Lebanese people “need electricity” and that imposing new taxes in a stagnant economy was “unacceptable.”
The efficiency and cost of service providers for Electricité du Liban have been a regular subject of debate since the providers began operating in 2012. They cite the succession of crises that have hit the country since 2019, as well as their heavy dependence on EDL decisions, which they say has hindered their work.
Beirut MP Waddah Sadek criticized the “nerve” of some politicians who have been in office for years and “who today ask about the state of electricity and water.” “Some should be ashamed to ask what the government has done. Of course I have criticisms to make, but this government has known nothing but war since the beginning,” he said.
Pierre Bou Assi (LF) said he “doubted that foreign investment would come to Lebanon,” while Raed Berro criticized the government for planning to allocate “zero” to the army. He added that he “fears for the government,” which faced the resumption of war between Israel and Hezbollah in its very first year, arguing that “under these conditions, no other government will be able to work.”
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