Al-Anbaa wrote: There is no fasting from politics during the fasting period. Electoral calculations are intense, and the formulation of lists continues as the deadline for registering them approaches on the fourth of this month. Accordingly, political escalations will persist as the election date nears, while attention is focused on what follows the elections and the results they will yield. According to the Lebanese rule, with the completion of list formations, it will be possible to start analyzing the numbers and results to outline the features of the new parliamentary council, which aims to create a new image of the political balances and the trajectory the country will take, grappling with successive crises without any positive signs of reaching an agreement on a reform plan, whether due to ongoing disputes over capital control or regarding how to allocate losses and the parties responsible for them. Lebanon is awaiting all these internal changes that will have regional reverberations due to ongoing developments abroad, and how they will reflect internally, amid expectations that Lebanon will enter a new phase on both political and economic fronts. Economically, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation continues its meetings with officials in search of an agreed-upon and approved plan.
According to information from Al-Anbaa electronic, the Fund's delegation expressed positive stances regarding some proposals made but still demands more. It also raised notes on the capital control project but regarded it as an improvement over previous versions. Fund sources via Al-Anbaa electronic consider that there are positive points that, if maintained, could lead to understanding and signing an agreement. Politically, Hezbollah is striving with all its power to achieve a victory that surpasses the overwhelming majority, seeking to attain two-thirds, while intense efforts led by opposing factions are aimed at preventing this, seeking to secure a blocking third to inhibit Hezbollah's plans and to ensure the election of an allied president.
Meanwhile, Lebanon is awaiting the return of the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors in the coming days to accompany the distribution of humanitarian aid. It was surprising that President Michel Aoun, in a recent statement, linked the conduct of parliamentary elections to financing, raising concerns about the possibility of postponing the elections if necessary funds are not secured, especially given the short time remaining until the scheduled date. In this context, Industry Minister George Bouchikian confirmed that "the financing is secured; the government approved the estimates for the parliamentary elections, and the Parliament has also approved these estimates." In an interview with Al-Anbaa electronic, Bouchikian noted that "the financing issue cannot be an excuse to postpone the elections," but he did not hide his concern about the possibility of changes in the cost of conducting the elections due to price inflation. Regarding electricity provision, Bouchikian indicated that efforts are underway to secure private generators to provide electrical supply, hoping that excuses will not continue to be fabricated up to the eve of the elections by parties adversely affected by the elections and which have exhausted all means to delay them.
