BEIRUT: Two MPs from the opposition March 14 coalition lashed out at Energy Minister Gibran Bassil Friday, accusing him of striking “suspicious deals,” with one urging him to resign.

Chouf MP Marwan Hamade and Beirut MP Ghazi Youssef from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc were responding to Bassil, who accused Hamade in an interview with LBCI TV Thursday of illegal deals when he served as telecommunications minister.

Bassil also accused the March 14 parties of obstructing his $1.2 billion plan to improve electricity supply in Lebanon which has been suffering from severe power rationing for years.

“My honorable path in all ministries and in all the posts and positions I have held cannot be undercut by the allegations and lies of a failed man known for insulting others and who belongs to a school of hatred,” Hamade said in an interview with Al-Sharq radio station.

He said Bassil has been exposed for his role in irregularities involving diesel distribution, high voltage lines and “tenders’ commissions.”

Referring to Bassil and the Free Patriotic Movement, which have accused March 14 politicians of corruption and stealing state funds, Hamade said: “They are lecturing on chastity, issuing certificates on transparency in performance, while they know nothing about this certificate ... The issue of diesel is the tip of the huge iceberg which will come to the surface when this government collapses.”

Hamade was referring to charges that distribution firms profited illegally by buying $80 million of red gasoil that was exempt from value-added tax but offered the gasoil to consumers only after the state resumed charging VAT.

Responding to Bassil, Youssef told the Voice of Lebanon radio station: “It’s amazing that Bassil is blaming the March 14 parties for the obstruction of the electricity plan even though his movement has had the Energy Ministry for five years.”