It is astonishing what Prime Minister Najib Mikati revealed in a farewell appearance before entering the caretaker government period. He accused the Minister of Energy and those who guided him of withdrawing the bid terms for the construction of two gas plants at acceptable prices, which global companies, including Germany's Siemens, committed to building. This follows a similar offer made during the visit of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was ignored by the Ministry of Energy and its various capacities.
Indeed, what Mikati did is remarkable; he should have disclosed this before the government transitioned to caretaker status, but he chose to speak after the fact, just as he did in the 2011 government when he later issued a press statement that included a commission for energy ships of more than twenty million dollars.
The question remains: what is the benefit of announcing this ongoing scandal after it has occurred? Could President Mikati have compelled the council table to keep this item and approve it, especially since it could have paved the way for a tender and the assignment of the construction of the plants? This could resolve a significant part of the electricity crisis, which Gebran Bassil holds all solutions to, under the principle of "I am energy, and energy is me."
In a series of tweets, Ghassan Baydoun, former Director General of Investment at the Ministry of Energy and Water, who resisted this destructive behavior in the Ministry of Energy, revealed much about the reasons for Bassil's hold on the ministry. This revelation is no longer a secret, as the struggle to monopolize it no longer hides the objectives when addressing this scandalous reality.
Baydoun states: "The secret of their insistence on the Ministry of Energy and their determination not to vacate it is simple: it ensures control over financial and political investment in water, electricity, and oil sectors, which are promising and profitable, having 5 million customers and many benefits and spoils for decades. This begins with granting approvals, permits, and licenses and does not end there."
He adds that the reason also includes potential political and electoral gains through employment in affiliated institutions, from labor force provision to securing funding for consultancy contracts and favors at the expense of projects and foreign financing contracts without any work (consultant unemployment). This reveals the insistence on not appointing a regulatory authority, not to mention the possibility of forming hidden partnerships with contractors and investors, engineering bid documents, and conducting tenders in the Minister of Energy's office and its extensions in illegal bodies and entities, such as ships, dams, wind and solar energy production, electricity plants, import licenses, distribution, drilling wells, and gas and gasoline stations.
Baydoun concludes: "They justify their demand to amend the regulatory authority's powers by claiming it conflicts with the minister's constitutional powers, which is incorrect and contradicts the rationale for regulatory bodies' existence; ensuring the sector's continuity and stability independent of the minister's mood. Keeping powers with the minister means tightening his grip on distributing spoils as his victory."
The summary of this brief account, as documented by Jean Alia concerning the power ships deal, indicates that Bassil wants to maintain control over the Ministry of Energy as his share of the spoils distribution cake. He has persisted in holding onto it both directly and by proxy in every government formed since 2008, seeking to confirm his hold on this lucrative ministry in any new government, supported by Hezbollah, which aims to maintain Bassil as a reliable ally who has been inflated with many parliamentary seats and whose gains should be preserved in any government formed.
What Mikati has done is reveal to the public the details of a new crime being committed against a people drowning in darkness. However, what is now urgent is the liberation of the Ministry of Energy that has been hijacked since 2008 and handing it over to trustworthy hands, so perhaps a candle may be lit in the sky of the Lebanese people after this long night.
