Mustaqbal on Aoun's Proposal: Constitutional Amendments Require Time, Electing President is Priority
Al-Mustaqbal bloc on Tuesday considered that introducing any constitutional amendment requires time and favorable conditions, while the priority now is for electing a new president.
“Any MP or political party has the right to call for amending the constitution...but constitutional amendments that tackle important issues need time and favorable conditions while the country now needs electing a president quickly amid the regional developments,” the bloc said in a released statement after the weekly meeting of its MPs at the Center House.
“Any effort to amend national pacts or the political system needs national discussion in favorable conditions,” al-Mustaqbal stressed.
The lawmakers were responding to Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun's proposal of introducing a “limited constitutional amendment” that allows the Lebanese citizens to elect the head of state in two rounds.
The Change and Reform bloc head said on Monday that his proposal lies in allowing only Christians to vote for their candidates in the first round.
The system than allows the polls to be held at the level of the entire nation to pave way for both Muslims and Christians to choose the two candidates who received the majority of votes in the first round.
Al-Mustaqbal bloc called for drawing an end to the presidential vacuum, urging also the March 8 MPs to stop boycotting the electoral session and nominate a candidate “who is capable of defending Lebanon, protecting its institutions and assuring the implementation of its constitution.”
Parliament has failed in several rounds to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman, whose six-year term expired on May 25 after the March 8 and 14 alliances failed to agree on a compromise candidate.
The majority of the March 8 camp's MPs, including the lawmakers of Aoun's Change and Reform bloc, have boycotted the sessions, leading to a lack of the needed two-thirds quorum.
The conferees hailed during Tuesday's meeting the “great exceptional effort that security bodies are exerting,” stressing “the importance of its continuation to block the road in front of terrorism.”
“Developments proved that the state is the (authority) that exclusively protects the Lebanese while militias and illegal armed forces are the ones subjecting their lives to danger,” the statement noted.
It continued: “All efforts must be directed towards supporting security forces...and dealing with terrorism requires the unity of all the Lebanese. Crimes must be confronted through political stances, not through security measures only.”
The MPs also reiterated calls for Hizbullah's withdrawal from Syria.
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Source: Naharnet
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