Bassil Hammered by Mustaqbal Over Alfa Contract
MP Ghazi Youssef on Thursday accused Minister of Telecommunications Jebran Bassil of seeking to grant a license to a French firm to operate the Alfa Cellular service without going through an official tender.
Youssef, a member of the Mustaqbal Parliamentary Bloc, told reporters that Bassil has not been authorized by the cabinet to undergo negotiations on operating a cellular network without going through the tender procedure.
"Why didn”t Minister Bassil call for a tender through which several firms can present their bids?" Youssef asked.
He said Bassil, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, made his alleged move one month before expiration of the present contract operating Alfa "although the deadline has been known for over a year."
Bassil, Youssef added, "should be held accountable for what he did."
He vowed to call for a vote of confidence in the government”s performance if it did not act against Bassil.