October 9, 2026
The Council of Ministers held its session this afternoon at Baabda Palace, headed by the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, and in the presence of the Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam. The session was preceded by a retreat between the two presidents, during which the most prominent topics on the agenda were presented.
At the beginning of the session, President Joseph Aoun stressed the importance of highlighting the positive aspects of the work of ministers, noting the efforts made in a number of ministries. He congratulated the Minister of Agriculture on following up on the apple season management file, thanking the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMA CGM, Rudolph Saadeh, for his contribution to reducing the cost of shipping to farmers. He also called for a visit to the Artificial Intelligence Exhibition, stressing the need for Parliament to quickly approve the law establishing the “Ministry of Artificial Intelligence,” given Lebanon’s lag in this field, despite more than 27% of the Lebanese using relevant technologies.
Aoun praised the official joining of the ports of Tripoli and Beirut to the “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor Ports Club” (IMEC), praising the efforts of the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Fayez Rasamny, and touching on the positive developments at Rafic Hariri International Airport. He also congratulated the Minister of Health, Rakan Nasser Al-Din, on the reorganization of the ministry’s structure, stressing the right of the Lebanese to see the institutional achievements achieved.
For his part, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reviewed the moves to address the social and living crisis, noting that he assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Mitri to invite the mini-committee, which includes relevant ministers, the head of economic bodies and the head of the General Labor Union, to continuous meetings to follow up on the cost of living and the economic situation. He revealed a comprehensive plan to enhance public transportation, starting with the purchase of 250 new buses with available funding, with the Minister of Public Works to present its details next week.
In the energy sector, Salam pointed to the Minister of Finance’s proposal to increase soft loans for solar energy through a draft law to be sent to the House of Representatives, in addition to opening a credit worth $50 million to the electricity company to avoid power outages. He also announced that November 15 will be the date for the first commercial flight to operate from René Moawad Airport in Klayaat, with reservations opening on the first of the same month.
Regarding the agenda, the Council of Ministers approved most of the items; The approval of the Ministry of Works’ request included completing the security and operational works and equipment for aviation and assigning the General Authority of Civil Aviation to conduct tenders. He also approved the book of conditions to estimate the assets of the Ministry of Communications and the “Ogero” Authority and conduct an inventory of the assets of the two cellular companies without evaluating them, confirming the Minister of Information, Paul Morcos, that there is no intention to sell the assets of “Alfa”, “Touch” or “Liban Telecom” at this stage.
The Council approved the distribution of exceptional financial aid to the municipalities and villages adjacent to the Sarar landfill in Akkar through the Independent Municipal Fund, and authorized Lebanon’s representative to the United Nations to sign the decision of the joint committee with the European Free Trade Association countries regarding rules of origin and agricultural agreements. In the appointments, the Council appointed Professor Bassam Badran as President of the Lebanese University for a period of 5 years, and Diana Maradian as Director of the Central Statistics Department, while maintaining the summer and winter timings without any modification.
In the subsequent press conference, Information Minister Paul Morcos clarified in response to questions that the issue of the Minister of Energy and Water’s retreat is under follow-up and research to reach solutions, indicating that the issue of the sabbatical of Lebanese University professors was not raised in the session. Regarding the potential threats and scenarios to the south, he stressed that the government is aware of its steps in internal coordination, stressing the existence of intensive diplomatic contacts and efforts from the relevant presidencies and ministers to confront the Israeli attacks.
