President Michel Aoun said Wednesday that “the arrangements for the Spring parliamentary elections are ongoing,” stressing that “any attempt to interfere in the elections will be strongly confronted.”

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad affirmed, after meeting President Michel Aoun Wednesday, that he will visit France to discuss issues related to electricity and gas exploration.

“I am invited to an official visit to France to discuss gas exploration with (French multinational oil and gas company) Total (Energies) and other firms,” Fayyad said in a press conference.

The head of the Unions and Syndicates of the Land Transport Sector, Bassam Tlais, on Wednesday announced the program of the strike and protests that the sector will stage Thursday across Lebanon.

“The previous suspension of the strike was based on promises from the prime minister and ministers to support the land transport sector,” Tlais said.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned an Israeli strike on Syria’s Latakia port that reportedly destroyed an Iranian weapons shipment.

In a statement, the Ministry said “Lebanon’s government and people will always stand by the Syrian Arab Republic in what preserves its security, stability and the safety of its citizens.”

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo on Tuesday met with President Michel Aoun and briefed him on the outcome of the tour that French President Emmanuel Macron made in the Gulf region, especially his visit to Saudi Arabia where the kingdom expressed its readiness to assist Lebanon.

During the meeting that was held at the request of the French presidency, Grillo noted that her country “made the first step in this regard,” adding that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries are also ready to take steps. The ambassador, however, stressed that Lebanon must “do its part and prove its credibility in committing to the reforms.”

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told an International Monetary Fund delegation that Lebanon is “committed to devising a feasible reformist plan” and to “cooperating with IMF to approve it quickly.”

Aoun also said that “the priority should be given to the social and health issues, and to confronting poverty and moving forward in repairing infrastructure in the country, such as electricity, telecommunications and the Beirut port.”

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday lamented that “the judiciary in Lebanon is not doing well,” as he called on all parties to “protect” the judiciary and “prevent pressures on judges.”

Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting with the newly-elected Beirut Bar Association chief Nader Kasbar and the members of the Association.

Parliament held a legislative session Tuesday at the UNESCO Palace in which several draft laws were approved and others were sent back to the parliamentary committees.

Among the bills that were passed was one that amends Lebanon’s loan treaty with the World Bank in order to support the government’s social aid plan, and another that obliges banks to transfer $10,000 to every Lebanese university student studying abroad for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The Beirut Civil Court of Appeals under the chairmanship of Judge Randa Harrouq on Tuesday dismissed ex-minister Youssef Fenianos’ recusal request against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, the state-run National News Agency said.

According to NNA, Harrouq said that the court lacks the jurisdiction to accept such a request, a stance that was expected after the Court of Cassation said that it exclusively has the right to look into recusal requests against Bitar.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has decried that “today, more than ever, we are living in another Lebanon.”

“The Lebanese decision has been completely usurped by a party that extends from here to the Islamic Republic” of Iran, Jumblat said in an interview with the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal, referring to Hizbullah.