A “electric clash” erupted amid the wasted political time between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Energy Minister Walid Fayad, after the former accused the latter of negligence in handling issues related to electricity. Sources close to Fayad expressed surprise to "Al-Joumhouria" regarding the statements attributed to Mikati against him, “especially since Mikati knows better than anyone that raising electricity tariffs is part of Minister Fayad’s plan to revitalize this sector. Even if it is true that ‘Hezbollah’ wished for him not to proceed with raising the tariffs before increasing the supply, Mikati himself heard this from the party’s officials, knowing that the ministry's plan stipulated the synchrony of raising both supply and tariffs unless the Prime Minister has other intentions.”
The sources added: "Minister Fayad will continue his efforts and will exert all his energies to ensure an increase in supply hours, a path he has been consistently pursuing since he assumed the ministry. He has accomplished what he needs to in most files, such as Egyptian gas, electricity from Jordan, Iranian fuel, and raising tariffs, and he is continuing to work on other solutions as recently seen in Algeria, which confirms that the obstruction lies elsewhere, something the Prime Minister knows well.”
Regarding Mikati's accusation of Fayad of deliberately delaying the announcement about the regulatory authority for the electricity sector in an international publication, Fayad's sources confirmed, “This announcement is nearly completed, and it is not true that there has been negligence on this matter,” pointing out that “at the same time, it is necessary to ensure the actual independence of the authority’s members and to guarantee the distribution of responsibilities according to the necessary needs.”
The sources denied that Fayad is obstructing the oil agreement with Algeria, as Mikati claims, emphasizing, “Fayad was warmly received by the Algerian president and his meetings with the Algerian Energy Minister were positive. They agreed to continue discussions to reach an agreement regarding obtaining fuel for electricity.” The sources considered that “Fayad was the initiator of the idea of communication with Algeria, and he broke the ‘taboo’ in this area after the ‘Sonatrach’ crisis,” noting that “he has exerted the most effort in recent months to reactivate and energize this path with Algeria while others are merely trying to reap the benefits.”
