BEIRUT: Ministers affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement will start boycotting Cabinet sessions from now on if Wednesday’s session fails to endorse an electricity plan proposed by their leader MP Michel Aoun, according to political sources.

The government is expected to continue its deliberations Wednesday on a controversial comprehensive plan to develop Lebanon’s suffering electricity sector after ministers failed to reach a tentative agreement over the allocation of $1.2 billion to the Energy and Water Resources Ministry during Tuesday’s Cabinet session in Beiteddine.

The sources told The Daily Star that following a heated debate over the draft law on electricity, FPM ministers walked out from the Cabinet session but were convinced to return by the two Hezbollah ministers in the government.

The sources said Prime Minister Najib Mikati held talks until late at night with ministers concerned with the electricity file to ensure consensus before Wednesday’s session which starts at 9 a.m., 90 minutes before Parliament kicks off a legislative session. As The Daily Star went to press, the talks were ongoing.

Following Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Social Affairs Wael Abu Faour told reporters that the Cabinet opted to adjourn talks over the electricity plan until Wednesday morning rather than next week “to speed things up and to not to give the impression that it’s a political dispute.”

Aoun had reiterated Tuesday an earlier warning that he would withdraw his ministers from Cabinet if the electricity plan he put forth was not endorsed by the government.

“We hope that the electricity proposal is adopted, otherwise what we previously said about our resignation from government still stands and there is no need for us to repeat this. All those concerned have been informed,” Aoun said during his weekly news conference at his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut.

Members of the opposition have said the plan would give Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, a member of Aoun’s FPM, access to $1.2 billion without any form of oversight.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati has reportedly insisted that the project fall under the authority of the government for greater transparency and that a regulatory body to supervise the electricity sector be established.

Sources close to Aoun told The Daily Star that Mikati is expected to back down in the row over the electricity plan after Aoun’s threats.

Separately, the Cabinet recognized in its Tuesday session Libya’s National Transition Council.