FPM files Parliament extension appeal

BEIRUT: The Change and Reform bloc challenged Thursday the law approved by Parliament last week to extend its own mandate by more than two years, insisting that poor security was no excuse to justify the move.

“We submitted an appeal against the extension law at the Constitutional Council,” Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan told reporters from outside the council building.

“The appeal has constitutional and legal reasons, and the constitutional one is that democracy means elections and change in authorities.”

Kanaan said that extension runs counter to democratic principles and contradicts the constitution, adding that no country in the world would allow its legislators to extend their terms if the decision was up to the people.

Kanaan underlined that Lebanon is not at war, and the security conditions are not bad enough to prevent elections. And if there was a rare case an extension was needed, there is no justification to extend the term by two and a half years.

“We have not lost our faith in the state and the institution,” Kanaan said, “And our visit to the Constitutional Council is proof despite what is being said about the council and the other main institutions in the country.”

Last week, Parliament approved a law to extend its own mandate for another two years and seven months, after a similar move in 2013, when it renewed its term for 17 months.

Ninety-five out of the 97 MPs attending the session voted yes, with the Free Patriotic Movement and Kataeb Party boycotting the vote in opposition.

Former President Michel Sleiman and the FPM had submitted appeals against the first extension law at the council, but the challenge was not heard after Shiite and Druze council members boycotted the sessions. The failure was protested by civil society activists, who through tomatoes and shouted slogans outside the council's office, accusing it of being controlled by political parties.

The council needs eight of its 10 members to attend any session for the quorum to be met, which is an exceptionally high percentage compared to other government institutions.

In a news conference Wednesday, the head of the council Issam Suleiman pledged that the body will meet the quorum to discuss the extension law.