Gemayel: The Electricity File is Not for Political Gains and the Suspicious Deal Shall Not Pass

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Monday lashed out anew at the proposed electricity plan, stressing that what he described as a “suspicious deal” shall not pass.

“We will not accept that the electricity file be exploited for partisan calculations, and this issue is not for political gains and overbidding,” Gemayel said at a press conference, urging a solution to the power generation crisis.

He reminded that Kataeb had “exposed this file and its suspicious deals during the parliament's debriefing of the government.”

“We have a problem with the principle of renting ships,” Gemayel said, noting that “the government wants to rent ships for three years for a cost of $1.8 billion while they can be purchased for a cheaper price.”

“In the public tender that was held today, it turned out that the firm which I had mentioned in the past is the firm that won on the basis that it conforms to the specifications,” Gemayel added.

“You brought two ships in 2010 and today we are in 2017 and you want to bring new ships after having promised us 24/24 power supply,” he went on to say.

Turning to the issue of the stalled electoral law, Gemayel emphasized that “the people have the right to decide their future through a fair electoral law and transparent elections.”

“Elections under the 1960 law are equivalent to a four-year extension of parliament's term,” he noted.

Gemayel also held the ruling class responsible for possible parliamentary “vacuum” because “it has not managed throughout six months to pass a new electoral law.”