BEIRUT: Residents in Zahle protested Monday in front of Electricite de Zahle to demand that the government renew its contract with the local company providing the city with 24/7 electricity.
The protesters, including students joined by school administrators, carried the Lebanese national flag along with banners and shouted their demands.
The demonstration took place as Parliament convened in a morning session to discuss a list of 39 agenda items, including a bill submitted by MPs George Okeis, Assem Araji and Cesar Maalouf to extend the electricity contract for two years.
The contract between EDZ and the Lebanese state is set to expire at the end of the year, and caretaker Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil has said it will not be renewed.
If the contract expires, residents will have to follow a system used by much of the rest of the country, whereby the state provides electricity for a certain number of hours a day, while residents pay separately for generators to cover the remaining hours.