BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai accused Cabinet Sunday of devising an unconstitutional mechanism of governing and trying to replace the office of the president.
Rai said that procedures governing its work “should only take place through consensus... and not by devising mechanisms that run contrary to the constitution.”
In his Sunday sermon, Rai said that ending the nine-month long presidential vacuum would solve the deadlock in Cabinet and would contribute to the revival of state institutions.
When Former President Michel Sleiman left office last May, the Cabinet adopted a system which requires unanimous backing among all 24 ministers to approve decisions.
The current system, not stipulated in the Constitution, allows any minister to veto a decision which has led to a political deadlock in Cabinet.
Article 65 of the Lebanese Constitution states that decisions must be made unanimously in Cabinet. However, in cases where a consensus cannot be reached, the Constitution requires a simple majority vote.
In exceptional cases, a Cabinet decision would require the approval of two-thirds of all 24 ministers and not just those in attendance.
The Constitution defines exceptional cases as the following: “The amendment of the constitution, the declaration of a state of emergency and its termination, war and peace, general mobilization, international [conventions], long-term comprehensive development plans, the appointment of employees of grade one and its equivalent, the reconsideration of the administrative divisions, the dissolution of the [Parliament], electoral laws, nationality laws, personal status laws, and the dismissal of ministers.”
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