‘Lebanon parliament to meet after agenda agreed’

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Thursday a meeting of parliament would go ahead next week after lawmakers agreed on an agenda for the session.

The agenda, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, covers mostly financial issues.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday called parliament to convene next week in the first attempt for months to bring deeply-divided politicians together to pass laws vital to keeping the paralysed state afloat.

"The required number of MPs will participate in the session," Khalil told Reuters, saying that 38 items were up for discussion.

"The most important of the items which will be agreed on are those related to approval of agreements on World Bank loans," he said.

World Bank loans planned for Lebanon will be cancelled unless approved by parliament before the end of the year, risking more pain for an economy already hit by the deadlock.

The country's politicians, bitterly divided by their own rivalries and wider conflict in the region, have failed to agree on even basic decisions, including where to dump rubbish. The paralysis of government was laid bare again in recent days when the government failed to pay the army on time.

Lebanon's main political blocs had previously been unable to agree an agenda for a legislative session, obstructing efforts to convene the chamber.

One of the rare occasions parliament met was a year ago, when it extended its own term until 2017, after legislative elections were postponed for a second time.

Parliament has failed to elect a new head of state in the absence of consensus on who should fill the position that fell vacant when Michel Suleiman's term expired 17 months ago. Berri has called 30 sessions to elect a new president.