After persistent attempts to keep companies that violate the law and are being prosecuted within the list of suppliers to the Ministry of Energy, the Minister of Energy, “Joe Souaid,” and his advisory team received a new legal blow from the Legislation and Consultations Authority, which again nullified all the justifications that were presented to justify the violation of the law.
While the opinion of the Public Procurement Authority was clear and explicit that violating companies should be excluded from any public tender, the Minister of Energy considered this opinion “incomprehensible,” arguing that there was a “legal ambiguity.”
Accordingly, “Souaid” appeared in the media to give lessons in law, talking about his concern for public money, and considering that the second opinion of the Public Procurement Authority – issued after a legal memorandum submitted by Engineer “Fawzi Mshlab” to cut off attempts at justification – placed him before “conflicting opinions,” claiming that he could not exclude companies without legal justification, before addressing a question to the Legislation and Consultations Authority.
But, as happened previously with the Public Procurement Authority, and to prevent the issuance of an opinion based on incomplete data provided by the Ministry of Energy, Engineer “Mshlab” took the initiative to raise a detailed memorandum to the Legislation and Consultations Authority. The decision issued by the Acting Head of the Authority, the honest Judge “Nada Ghamra,” was based verbatim and entirely on what was stated in the “Mshlab” memorandum, and on the same texts that the Ministry of Energy had been advised to apply from the beginning.
The decision reiterated the essence of the “Integrity Declaration” that every bidder signs, in which they pledge not to participate in any public tender if they commit any violation, and acknowledge in advance that they are not entitled to object to any administrative decision to exclude them.
Despite the clarity of these legal texts, which has not stopped since June reminding the Minister of Energy of the need to respect their effects, “Souaid” succumbed to the will of his political team and the dictates of his legal advisor “Boutros Hadchiti,” persisting in ignoring the law.
This path is no longer an administrative detail, but rather reflects a daily overlap between raised reform slogans, missing efficiency, and absent experience. Once the Minister blames the “multiple reports” for the darkness because, according to him, they frightened the bidders, and once he opposes the customs investigation into the Hawk III tanker file.
When a historic fine of ten million dollars was imposed, a statement was issued attributing the “achievement” to the Ministry, and it was said that the Minister was the one who filed a report, while the file was originally opened based on a report by Engineer “Mshlab.”
Then the Minister contradicted himself again, as the Ministry of Energy leaked information to the newspaper “Nidaa Al Watan” claiming that “Souaid” had filed legal reports against the companies, and that the Information Division was investigating all the tankers. This leak turned into an electronic promotional material in favor of the “Lebanese Forces,” forgetting the Minister’s own statement just days before, when he considered that the reports were the cause of the darkness.
The climax of the absurd scene was represented in the statement of the head of the “Lebanese Forces” party, “Samir Geagea,” who boasted about what he called the “self-sufficiency” of the Ministry of Energy.
The scandal here is that the feeding hours have decreased, while “self-sufficiency” is not an achievement but a condemnation.
The electricity tariff has been fixed since November 2022 based on a Brent crude oil price of $110 per barrel, with a promise to reprice every two months according to global prices.
While the average price per barrel in 2025 was only about $65, meaning that the cost of fuel oil decreased by about 45%.
Instead of boasting about “self-sufficiency,” there should have been a surplus in collection ranging between 40 and 50% of the total bills, especially since the pricing took into account technical and non-technical waste at a rate of 40%.
The slogan “We want and we fulfilled” fell during the first ten months of the experiment.
From here, we understand the “Lebanese Forces'” rush to demand that parliamentary elections be held on time, because any postponement will reveal disastrous results on their popularity, which has been built for years on non-constructive opposition, and today, in a position of power, they are being tested… and falling.
