A cabinet meeting started at the presidential palace in Baabda Tuesday afternoon to discuss an 18-item agenda, including the electricity and parliamentary elections files. In the meantime, contract teachers at Lebanese University organized a sit-in near the presidential palace.

Here’s what we know:

• Prime Minister Najib Mikati told the press before the cabinet meeting that "the financial obstacles no longer exist" with regard to organizing parliamentary elections. He also promised that a decision would be taken concerning election expenses during today's cabinet session, saying that a third of this sum has already been raised.

• The Prime Minister chaired a meeting at Beirut’s Grand Serail with Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministers to discuss the elections. Mikati then went to Baabda where he met with the president before starting the cabinet meeting.

• An article in the original 2022 budget draft noted that Electricité du Liban would receive an advance payment of LL5.25 trillion to buy fuel, but Energy Minister Walid Fayad has been asked to justify the advance payment, forcing Mikati to separate the electricity and budget discussions.