BEIRUT — Influential parliamentary speaker Nabih
Berri said on Monday that Lebanon would sink like the Titanic if it could not
form a government as he opened a session to approve emergency funds to
literally keep the lights on for two more months.
اضافة اعلان
“The whole country is in danger, the whole country is the
Titanic,” Berri said. “It’s time we all woke up because in the end, if the ship
sinks, there’ll be no one left.”
Lebanon is in the throes of a financial crisis that poses
the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war. Without a
new government, it cannot implement the reforms required to unlock desperately
needed foreign aid.
But prime minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri and President
Michel Aoun have been at loggerheads for months over the makeup of a new
cabinet.
Parliament approved a loan of $200 million to pay for fuel
for Lebanon’s electricity company after a warning by the energy ministry that
cash had run out for electricity generation beyond the end of the month.
“This should be enough for electricity for around two months
or two-and-a-half,” Cesar Abi Khalil, a member of parliament and former energy
minister, told Reuters.
The Zahrani power plant, one of Lebanon’s four main
electricity producers, has already had to shut down for lack of fuel.
“Any shutdown in one of these big plants affects power
generation negatively,” Abi Khalil said. “This means Lebanese make up for it
with generators that run on diesel that’s 30% more expensive than the fuel
that’s bought by the electricity company.”
Lebanon already lacks power generation capacity and homes
and businesses have to cope with power cuts for several hours a day, forcing
many to turn to private generators.
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