BEIRUT: The law to extend Parliament’s term officially went into effect Tuesday, paving the way for lawmakers opposed to the move to challenge the decision.
The law, which won a majority of votes during last week’s legislative session, was published in the Official Gazette Tuesday, which officially extends lawmakers' mandate until 2017.
Political parties that opposed the law can now file a challenge at the Constitutional Council.
Some MPs in the Change and Reform bloc are expected to file a challenge to the law on the basis that the decision was illegal.
The head of the bloc, MP Michel Aoun, has argued that the extension is unnecessary given that the government would remain functioning in the absence of a Parliament. He has said that the Parliament failed to convene on several occasions to address pressing issues and extending its term would be futile.
Aoun, whose bloc boycotted the extension session, has also said that the alternative to an extension was to hold the parliamentary elections.
Future Movement lawmakers have lobbied in favor of the extension, saying that the presidential election remains a priority over the parliamentary polls. The Future Movement’s Christian allies, the Lebanese Forces and independent lawmakers allied with the party, voted for the extension.
Although the Kataeb Party, one of the two main Christian parties in the March 14 coalition, also boycotted the session, its lawmakers have not yet said whether they would challenge it.
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