BEIRUT: Lebanon settled a months-old debate Wednesday when Parliament extended its term for more than two years, paving the way for possible dialogue between March 8 and March 14 rivals over the presidential issue.
Out of 127 MPs, some 97 lawmakers turned up for the session, with 95 voting in favor of the draft law proposing the second extension, including rivals from the Future Movement and Hezbollah.
Only MPs Hagop Pakradounian and Arthur Nazarian, from the Tashnag Party, expressed their opposition to the bill, which extended the legislature’s term by two years and seven months.
The vote was boycotted by Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and the Kataeb Party. Despite previously expressing their opposition to the extension, the Lebanese Forces ended up voting in favor of the law, thus giving legitimacy to the extension by a major Christian group.
Along with the first extension in May 2013, MPs elected in 2009 have now given themselves a second full four-year term without any elections.
Blocs backing the extension argued that it was the only option available to avoid throwing Parliament into a vacuum so long as holding elections, which were scheduled for Nov. 16, was not possible for logistical and security reasons.
The extension, which came days after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah offered to cooperate with the Future Movement to protect Lebanon from mounting security threats linked to regional turmoil, could open the door for talks between both groups aimed at ending more than five months of presidential vacuum.
It also comes after former Prime Minister Saad Hariri voiced readiness to cooperate with all parties, including Hezbollah, to end the country’s political crisis.
The extension law included a provisional clause stating that “once a president is elected, a new election law is passed and the extraordinary circumstances are over, the extended period will be shortened and parliamentary elections held.”
The bill will be published in the Official Gazette within five days, after which it will go into effect.
Speaker Nabih Berri called on a seven-member committee representing various groups to meet on Nov. 17 in a bid to agree on a new election law.
Speaking during the session, Berri said the committee would have a one-month period to agree on a new voting system.
“If no agreement is reached, we will come to Parliament and vote on all electoral laws [referred to Parliament],” Berri said.
At the beginning of the session, MPs Butros Harb and Antoine Zahra called for the immediate election of a president, since the elusive quorum was secured during the session.
“We’re having a legislative session right now,” Berri answered.
“[But] I don’t mind that after I close the session, we turn it into one for electing a president, if the quorum is maintained.” However, lawmakers dispersed immediately after the extension vote.
During the session, which lasted for over an hour, lawmakers approved seven other draft laws, one of which allowed the government to issue eurobonds to finance state expenditures.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, a member of Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, slammed the extension session as a “holdup of Parliament.”
“The danger of this issue lies in the fact that it could happen again ... It is a complete takeover operation carried out by a group that has a majority in Parliament,” Bassil said at a news conference held at Aoun’s Rabieh residence.
The FPM argues that the security situation is not severe enough to constitute a valid excuse for the extension.
Bassil also lashed out at the Lebanese Forces, saying the party had once more breached the unanimous stance of Christian parties by supporting the extension. He added that all options were on the table in response to the development, including getting ministers loyal to Aoun to refuse to sign the extension law.
Hitting back, LF leader Samir Geagea said Aoun’s bloc was entirely to blame for the extension. “The first mistake [by the FPM] was that it blocked presidential polls from being held for five consecutive months ... and its second mistake was in colluding with other Cabinet parties to block parliamentary elections,” Geagea told a news conference at his residence in Maarab.
Geagea said Aoun’s aim was to undermine all Constitutional institutions as a prelude to holding a conference to reshape the Lebanese political system. “Between extension and elections, we support elections, but between extension and undermining the state and heading to the unknown, we back extension,” he added.
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale expressed regret over the extension, according to a statement from his office.
Hale, who visited Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, called on Parliament to elect a president as soon as possible, in accordance with the Constitution and the National Pact, and urged Lebanese leaders to hold parliamentary elections as soon as possible.
EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst described Wednesday as “a sad day in Lebanon’s constitutional history.”
Dozens of civil society activists gathered in Downtown Beirut to denounce the draft law, trying to prevent lawmakers from reaching Parliament and throwing eggs and tomatoes at their convoys.
“Your extension is occupation [of Parliament],” read a banner held by one protester. “No to extension.”
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