Only 58 lawmakers out of 128 members of Parliament attended the first of three meetings scheduled until Friday, September 16, according to the call made by its Speaker Nabih Berri.

A protest by a group of pensioners and depositors in front of the entrance of the Parliament, An-Nahar building in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, marked the initial session of the budget debate.

The protesters raised slogans denouncing the payment of the State debts from citizens’ pockets, the National News Agency reported.

According to local reports, the approval of the 2022 budget is one of the laws related to the final agreement with the International Monetary Fund and its contribution to the implementation of Lebanon’s recovery reforms.

The non-formation of the cabinet since June, the fragmentation in the legislative, the ongoing strikes in the public sector and the worsening of the crisis complicate Lebanon’s political scenario amid the constitutional deadline for the election of the new president of the Republic.

pgh/iff/lam/yma