Opposition MPs have submitted a petition to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate the crimes, suspicions, violations, and acts of negligence and carelessness in the electricity sector.

They emphasized that "for the past 20 years, it has been clear that the solution to the electricity crisis in Lebanon is not a technical or financial matter. Various international and Arab entities, both governmental and non-governmental, have presented a range of diverse proposals over the past two decades to address the electricity crisis technically and financially to successive governments, particularly to the ministers responsible for the Ministry of Energy."

"Offers have come from the brotherly State of Qatar, Siemens, and ACWA Power, in collaboration with the Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development. It has become evident to the Lebanese people that the core issue lies in the lack of genuine will among all who have held this ministry to resolve the electricity crisis, despite the repeated empty promises. This situation can only be interpreted as a deliberate prolongation of the crisis to cover up documented corruption related to fuel purchases, energy leasing, plant maintenance, or the establishment of new facilities, as well as to obscure the existence of a black market for electricity through generators, which generates billions of dollars annually for certain influential figures and their partners in power," they added.

"Despite the issuance of laws, the development of plans, decisions made by the Cabinet and the waste of public funds, we have plunged into total darkness. In 2002, the Lebanese Parliament passed Law No. 462, known as the Regulation of the Electricity Sector, which has yet to be implemented to this day. This inaction is partly due to political bickering and partly due to patronage, especially regarding the establishment of a regulatory authority that, if established, would have effectively resolved the electricity crisis. However, the concern over transferring powers from the ministry to the authority has led those who held the ministry to refrain from forming it, contrary to an existing law," they affirmed.

They added, "Additionally, the Cabinet approved an electricity plan on June 21, 2010, of which not a single provision has been executed to date. On March 28, 2017, the Cabinet approved another plan, dubbed the emergency plan for the electricity sector for the summer of 2017, which included, in its first provision, the leasing of additional energy from floating plants with a production capacity ranging from 800 to 1,000 megawatts. This plan later revealed a questionable deal that cost the Lebanese State many times more than what would have been needed to construct new plants, and its implementation was marred by numerous allegations of misconduct."

"The mutual accusations and shifting of responsibilities that we are witnessing today among various parties involved in the electricity sector serve as evidence of the extent of corruption plaguing the entire sector and the lack of will to resolve a crisis that has been deliberately prolonged to benefit from a black market whose revenues exceed billions of dollars annually. Otherwise, why have there been no tenders for the fuel oil designated for power plants since 2012? Each time, the submission of the file to the Cabinet is delayed to impose contracts by mutual agreement and to renew contracts as a fait accompli," they pointed out.

"All of the above represents just a glimpse into the complex issues surrounding the electricity sector, and this is something the Parliament cannot continue to ignore. Therefore, based on Articles 149 to 153 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, we hereby submit this petition aimed at forming a parliamentary committee to investigate the crimes and/or suspicions and/or violations and/or acts of negligence and carelessness and/or infractions of the applicable Lebanese laws concerning the electricity sector in general, particularly regarding the failure to implement Law No. 462/2002 and violations of public accounting and procurement laws," they indicated.

"We also propose granting the committee some of the powers of investigative judges to enable it to conduct the necessary investigations, hoping that this proposal will receive acceptance and approval," they concluded.