BEIRUT: Parliament Tuesday began the first of three successive legislative sessions to debate and ratify a state budget for the first time in over a decade, with lawmakers delivering low-key speeches reflecting the top leaders’ “political understanding” to ensure a smooth endorsement of the country’s fiscal plan.

During the morning session, chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri and attended by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a number of ministers, MPs re-elected members of Parliament’s Secretariat, as well as members, rapporteurs and heads of 16 parliamentary committees.

The only change saw MP Elie Aoun replace MP Khaled Zahraman on the Youth and Sports Committee, before lawmakers moved to debating the draft 2017 state budget.

The legislative sessions, to be held morning and evening daily through Thursday, come amid optimism that the state budget would be endorsed by Parliament, a move that would put an end to past years’ uncontrolled extrabudgetary spending in the billions of dollars.

However, some opposition lawmakers – namely Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel and Batroun MP Boutros Harb – are expected to oppose the passing of the state budget before an audit of extrabudgetary spending since 2005.

“Aren’t we supposed to discuss the audit [of extrabudgetary spending] before discussing the state budget?” Gemayel asked during the morning session, drawing a quick response from Berri who said: “No.”

Under a political settlement reached during a Cabinet session chaired by President Michel Aoun last month, Parliament would ratify the state budget without the audit but the government would conduct one within an agreed time limit.

Among contentious issues that have hindered the ratification of a state budget since 2005 were demands by key blocs, namely the Free Patriotic Movement, for closing previous accounts of extrabudgetary spending. Of particular concern has been the estimated $11 billion spent by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government between 2005 and 2009. Commenting on the session and the budget, Hariri said, “This is an achievement that has been awaited by all the Lebanese.”Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan warned that Lebanon was sliding toward an economic abyss if measures were not taken to fight corruption in the public administration and halt tax evasion and customs smuggling, which are depriving the Treasury of millions of dollars in revenues annually.

“We are at a difficult and dangerous economic and financial crossroads. This situation must encourage us to change our path, or else we will be sliding toward the abyss,” Adwan said during Parliament’s evening session.

He explained that 70 percent of state spending is going to pay civil servants’ salaries, cover the endemic deficit in the state-run Electricite du Liban, and service public debts estimated at more than $75 billion.

He said the state revenues, excluding the debts and deficit, are LL16.8 trillion ($11.1 billion), which barely covers 70 percent of public expenditure.

“Putting an end to tax evasion and customs smuggling is sufficient to change the financial situation in Lebanon,” Adwan said, adding that he has asked Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil to inform Parliament of the Central Bank’s profits over the past 20 years. “We hope that the Parliament speaker will disclose the profits and expenses of Banque du Liban over the past 20 years,” Adwan said. He added that the LF bloc would make a request for the formation of an investigating committee on the BDL issue within the next 48 hours.

In a quick response to Adwan, Central Bank Gov. Riad Salameh said in a statement Tuesday night that BDL’s accounts are audited by two international companies that have nothing to do with the bank. He said that during the 20 years Adwan referred to, BDL undertook an annual audit of its accounts every year, presented it to the Finance Ministry and paid what it should pay to the state Treasury, according to law. “During the period MP Adwan spoke about, the BDL has transferred to the treasury $4.5 billion and increased its own assets from $60 million to $3 billion,” Salameh said.

Speaking in the morning session, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, chairman of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee that has toiled for more than four months preparing the budget’s provisions, said the budget draft law included 76 articles divided into four chapters. Reading the committee’s report on the budget, he said that the committee has held 42 sessions between April 25 and Aug. 28 to work on the draft budget law, made amendments to 32 articles and canceled 10 articles. Kanaan said the committee had reduced spending in the 2017 budget in the billions of Lebanese pounds.

Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for revitalizing the ailing economy in order to increase growth. Citing World Bank and International Monetary Fund figures on spending and waste, he said, “The cost of corruption and waste [of public funds] reached around $4.5 billion, or 9 percent of the country’s GDP, putting a burden on the national economy.”

Future MP and former minister Nabil de Freij called for fighting “corruption and unemployment.” He and other MPs said it was difficult to ascertain the budget’s exact figures because most of the allocations have been spent.

Berri adjourned the evening session at 9:25 p.m. until 11 a.m. Wednesday. More than 15 MPs spoke on the first day. Tuesday marked the beginning of Parliament’s regular sessions, which will run until Dec. 31. Parliament had met in the past few months in an extraordinary cycle to pass urgent draft laws, including the public sector’s salary scale law along with a string of taxes to finance it. In a move reflecting the top leaders’ political understanding and “national consensus” within the Cabinet, lawmakers from the country’s main blocs last week passed an amended tax law needed to finance the pay rise for public sector employees.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said a newly formed committee to supervise next year’s parliamentary elections did not meet as scheduled Tuesday because the Parliament morning session went on until 4 p.m. “Elections will be held on time based on the new electoral law. Any other words will expose political security to danger,” Machnouk told reporters before entering Parliament for the evening session.