Hizbullah and Mustaqbal Discuss 'Proposals to Resolve Political Crisis'

A sixteenth dialogue session between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement tackled “proposals to resolve the political crisis” and “a number of social issues,” the two parties said in a joint statement.

“The conferees discussed the suggested proposals for resolving the country's political crisis and a number of social issues that are of concern to citizens,” said a terse statement issued after talks in Ain al-Tineh on Wednesday evening.

The two parties have announced that the their dialogue, which kicked off last year, is mainly aimed at defusing the Sunni-Shiite tensions in the country.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Suleiman's term ended on May 25, 2014. The presidential vacuum is increasingly paralyzing the work of the government and the parliament.

The political impasse was recently aggravated by unprecedented waste collection and electricity crises that have prompted angry citizens to take to the streets to denounce the government's shortcomings.

The garbage crisis erupted after the closure of the Naameh landfill on July 17. It has seen streets overflowing with piles of trash for around two weeks.

The country is also reeling from lengthy power outages that have coincided with a fierce heat wave.

Electricite Du Liban has blamed the problem on the disconnection of two power generation units at the vital Zahrani plant and the high demand on electricity during this time of year.

Y.R.