Parliament Fails to Elect President for Ninth Time as Berri Hopes Polls Won't Affect Cabinet
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Parliament failed for the ninth time on Wednesday in electing a president due a lack of quorum.
Speaker Nabih Berri, who did not attend the session, set August 12 as the date for the tenth session.
Lebanese Forces MP Sethrida Geagea condemned the boycott, accusing lawmakers of obstructing the elections and violating their duties towards the people who elected them.
LF chief Samir Geagea is running in the elections.
He later slammed the March 8 camp for obstructing the election, saying during a press conference: “We have exerted all possible legitimate efforts to stage the polls. We will not surrender or despair.'
“The elections will be held. This may take time, but it is better than doing nothing,” he asserted.
“The other camp's mentality does not respect democracy, the country, people, presidency, and logic,” he added.
“We would not have been upset over the vacuum had there been legitimate reasons for it, however, obstructing the elections in this manner is unjustified,” he stressed.
Furthermore, he criticized the “insolence” of proposing a constitutional amendment at such a critical time.
“The constitutional amendment proposal is aimed at improving one's negotiation options,” Geagea said in reference to Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun's suggestion that the president be elected directly by the people.
“We could have held the elections and later addressed the constitutional amendment,” continued the LF chief.
Previous elections sessions were boycotted by the March 8 alliance's Loyalty to the Resistance and Change and Reform blocs due to a disagreement over a consensual nominee.
Earlier, Berri had voiced his keenness on the functioning of constitutional institutions, hoping that the vacuum in the presidency will not affect cabinet, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.
He told his visitors on Tuesday: “I am trying my best to separate the presidential vacuum and the obstruction of parliament sessions from the cabinet meetings.”
“Cabinet's role is not limited to serving the people's needs, but it has to tackle an urgent security situation,” he remarked.
“We therefore cannot accept any obstruction of government work,” stressed the speaker.
Asked about the presidential vacuum, Berri noted that no new development has been achieved in this issue.
The term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May.
M.T.
H.K.
23 July 2014, 10:08
24
His best is to show the country can function without a President and to legislate absent a President.
23 July 2014, 13:48
24
Did I read this correctly that he himself did not attend the session that he called for to elect a president? What kind of joke is this...we are paying those who steal electricity twice? Free electricity and no show to do their job?
23 July 2014, 15:38
10
In the region, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, all are in discord seeking to establish order.
In Lebanon, there is order and the responsible parties are trying to create discord and disorder. It is really quite insane for most except Hezbollah who wants to keep the Lebanon file on the shelf until it can complete its military projects undertaken on Iran's orders in Iraq and Syria.
Good boy Aoun keeps his stick in the Lebanese wheel for his paymasters until they can come back and address the issue.
23 July 2014, 18:40
01
As I mentioned before on this subject.
Cancel the quorum and you'll see that all, or nearly all, MP's turn up to vote.
24 July 2014, 00:09
11
We are quick to complain about all things wrong in lebanon yet still don't realise when we are being wronged. Enough with these politicians that don't respect our democratic process and are happy to earn their pays.
24 July 2014, 00:10
11
Wolf the real issue here friend is not whether you like or dislike an opponent. Hence the term opponent. But rather the democratic integrity and due process. Our system clearly sets a timeframe and deadline for elections that are simply " not negotiable" and must be respected. This means making your alliances putting forward your program and clarifying your position. Candidates have six long years to prepare themselves in order to participate democratically by the due date. It is simply unacceptable that aoun not having done any of the above wants the whole country to simply remain in vacuum until he makes up for lost ground. If he is a candidate then he has missed the cut off date. If he isn't a candidate his role as a public servant is to respect our democracy and attend no other choices.
