The Lebanese Parliament convened Tuesday, in its first legislative session, to vote on 40 draft laws.
The proposed draft laws included a wheat loan from the World Bank, in the presence of U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea who attended the session.
For the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to financially support Lebanon, parliament’s approval of a reformed bank secrecy law is required.
Additionally, the parliament discussed the maritime border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel and two laws that aim to protect the Beirut port silos against demolition.
A group of MPs proposed an expedited draft law, which was introduced to the public on July 21st by MP Paola Yacoubian, with a single clause: “The wheat silos building in the Beirut port is a landmark of national human heritage that commemorates the tragic memory of the Beirut port explosion, and it is necessary to strengthen the building and maintain it.”
Signatories stated that the law needed to be expedited because of the “persistent and serious attempts to demolish the silos in the Beirut port,” after the latest fire lasted for days without any effort from authorities to put it out.
Signatories include MPs of Change Melhem Khalaf, Rami Fanj, Najat Aoun, Paula Yacoubian, Yassin Yassin, Michel Douaihy, Firas Hamdan, and Mark Daou.
The Kataeb political party had proposed a similar law earlier in June, while MPs George Okais and former MP Imad Wakim had also proposed an expedited law in April to protect the silos until the end of the judicial investigation.
In the meantime, the MPs of Change protested in front of the parliament urging the approval of the laws that protect Beirut port silos which “may contain evidence useful for a judicial probe.”