BEIRUT: The proposal to extend the Parliament’s term enjoys the backing of half of Lebanon’s Christians, Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said Thursday.
“What does ‘the Christian cover’ mean if half the supporters of the extension are Christians?,” Fatfat asked in an interview with radio station Voice of Liban 93.3 FM.
His comments came in response to a question about the lack of Christian support for Parliament's extension.
The Future Movement has been advocating for the extension of Parliament's mandate for months, but the party’s Christian allies, Kataeb and Lebanese Forces, have been more reluctant to voice support for the measure.
The Free Patriotic Movement, the largest Christian-dominated party in rival camp, has explicitly rejected the extension.
“The available options today are either conducting parliamentary elections, which is impossible in terms of security and politics, or total void,” Fatfat said.
He reiterated the Future Movement’s argument that holding the elections will force the Cabinet to resign, and due to the absence of a president, it would not be possible to form a new cabinet.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said both that he opposes an extension, but also opposes holding parliamentary elections in the absence of a president.
Lawmakers are expected to renew their mandate for another two years and seven months, after they extended it for 17 months in May 2013.
If the new extension draft law passes, the next parliamentary elections will take place in 2017, meaning the current lawmakers will have stayed in office for eight years, double their original four-year terms.
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