BEIRUT: Parliamentarians reached consensus Wednesday on a controversial electricity draft law and agreed it should be discussed and put to a vote in Parliament  as originally endorsed by the government.

The plan was widely expected to be put to a vote after the opposition said the bill lacked the necessary controls on the plan’s spending, worth $1.2 billion.

The draft electricity law was referred by the joint parliamentary committee without amendments to Parliament’s general assembly, where it will be discussed and put to a vote Thursday.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Tuesday for a legislative session Thursday to study and approve remaining draft laws, including the controversial $1.2-billion bill endorsed by the government last week.

Berri’s decision came a day after the joint committee failed to reach agreement on the electricity plan following a heated debate between March 8 and March 14 lawmakers.

The bill is expected to pass in Parliament given the consensus agreed Wednesday.

Opposition lawmakers had demanded that the draft law include several amendments that they argued would help ensure transparency and proper spending for the plan, which is designed to boost Lebanon’s power supply by 700 MW.

However, majority lawmakers rejected the amendments, accusing March 14 politicians of attempting to undermine the prerogatives of Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, who has proposed the electricity plan.

The joint parliamentary committee meeting kick started at around mid-day amid reports that the participants would either form a consensus or call for a vote.

“The meeting of the joint parliamentary committee will end today in a decision either by consensus or by vote," said MP Mohammad Qabbani, head of Parliament’s public works and transport committee.

MP Marwan Hamadeh, a member of the opposition March 14 coalition, said Parliament was engaged in a “battle” over the electricity bill.

“We’re heading into the [political] battle,” Hamadeh told reporters as he walked into the meeting.

Pointing to a headline in the local newspaper Ad-Diyar which read “Conflict over $360 million commission for the electricity [plan],” Hamadeh said: “This is a scandal. This is the real battle.”

However, Hezbollah MP Nawar Sahli ruled out a vote taking place Wednesday.

Lawmaker Alain Aoun, a member in MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, said Berri was seeking to reach consensus.

His colleague in the Change and Reform bloc, MP Nabil Nichola, for his part, said while “calm” has prevailed over the meeting, each party remained committed to its stance.