Constitutional Council Fails to Meet over Lack of Quorum
The Constitutional Council, which was set to study petitions filed against the extension of parliament’s term, failed to convene on Tuesday over lack of quorum, a sign that several of its members intended to validate the extension law.
The approval or the rejection of the petitions filed by President Michel Suleiman and the Change and Reform bloc requires the go-ahead of seven out of the council's 10 members.
But a lack of quorum would make the 17-month extension law valid after the end of parliament's mandate on June 20.
As Safir newspaper had quoted highly-informed sources as saying on Tuesday that the five Christian members are in favor of approving the challenges made by Suleiman and the bloc respectively on June 1 and June 3.
But the council's two Shiite members in addition to the Druze judge did not attend Tuesday's meeting to prevent the required 8-member quorum.
The two petitions were filed after the legislature extended its four-year term, pushing the parliamentary elections to November 2014.
The extension was the result of the failure of the rival parties to agree on a new law to govern the polls and amid the rejection of the implementation of the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 elections.
Change and Reform bloc official caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil told As Safir that the polls should be held immediately if the half-Muslim half-Christian body approved the petitions.
He warned that if the council rejected the petitions then the polls would not be held based on the 1960 law.
“This is rejected. Any extension means (the approval of) a new electoral law,” Bassil said.
The council was set on Tuesday to continue to study the report drafted by its head, Judge Issam Suleiman, on the challenges.
But the lack of quorum seemed to be an attempt by Shiite and Sunni judges in favor of the extension to validate the law and postpone the elections to November 2014.
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