BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Cabinet would likely approve Wednesday decrees to implement an oil exploration law.

“Approving these decrees, which were included in Cabinet’s Wednesday agenda, will be the beginning of government’s achievements in the New Year,” Berri said in remarks published Tuesday by An-Nahar newspaper.

Berri had threatened to question the government in Parliament should it fail to approve the decrees before year’s end after he said he had received assurances from Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Energy Minister Jibran Bassil that they would be signed on time.

In the interview with An-Nahar, Berri said that the Litani water project will be another success story for the six-month-old government.

Mikati “should be proud that these two projects were carried out under his government,” he added.

Regarding his relationship with the prime minister, Berri said: “Mikati will continue to be my brother and friend.”

In a separate interview with Ad-Diyar, Berri said that after Cabinet’s approval of the oil decrees, the government “will work day and night to make sure that words are translated into deeds.”

The speaker said he hoped Cabinet would be able to finalize the tender before March 31.