Since November 1, the highest institutional positions have been vacant, a danger that has been announced for months and has materialized. It has been decided to hold a weekly session of Parliament to try to elect the new president. But the opposing blocks frustrate any attempt. The Maronite Patriarch calls for an international conference in Lebanon under the auspices of the UN. The Army as a guarantor of stability.
Beirut () – What has been feared for months could happen in Lebanon has now become a tragic reality. Since November 1, the country has been in a situation of vacancy, at the constitutional and political level, of the highest positions: it does not have a president because Parliament was unable to elect the successor of Michel Aoun, whose term ended on the night of November 31 October, and the government that runs the country has been out of service since the results of the political elections were announced last May and can only deal with current affairs. The post-Aoun period is emerging as a period of potential instability, in a national framework in which it seems unlikely that a parliamentary majority will be built in the short term and a compromise between the parties seems increasingly difficult to achieve.
The Parliament met in an extraordinary capacity to examine a letter from Aoun released a few hours before leaving the Baabda presidential palace, in which he asks that the decision to confirm Nagib Mikati be returned to the post, but he did not want to continue the instructions of the head of state. The Chamber also decided, in the name of the principle of continuity of public institutions, that the outgoing government headed by a Sunni can continue with the management of current affairs, even in the absence of a head of state, traditionally Maronite. However, the Parliament clarified that the government cannot go beyond its specific functions and can only meet, in extraordinary form, in case of national emergency and after having consulted and received the green light from the political representatives. This provision should calm the confessional tensions that have arisen between Prime Minister Nagib Mikati and the Free Patriotic Movement (CPL) founded by the outgoing head of state and chaired by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil.
After Parliament, the prime minister replied to the head of state that he had “accepted the resignation” before the expiration of the presidential mandate, despite an earlier promise to the contrary. At the same time, Mikati declared that the presidential decree was superfluous because the executive had already resigned since the May vote. He also made it clear that he will deal with current affairs “according to the duties imposed by the Constitution” because, if he did not do so, the outgoing government would expose itself to serious “constitutional sanctions.”
At the end of the session, the president of the Justice Commission Georges Adwan (Lebanese Forces) explained that the outgoing government can continue with the management of current affairs “in the strict sense of the word”, but without meeting, because the prerogatives Presidential elections go to the Council of Ministers meeting in joint session and, as a general rule, a resigning executive does not meet. Mikati explicitly subscribed to this reservation. For his part, the president of the Chamber, Nabih Berry, said that he will summon the deputies weekly to elect a new head of state starting on November 10, giving them time to meet and discuss between one voting session and another. He then returned to demand a political compromise that unlocks the election of the president.
The two great factions, the Shiite CPL party on one side, and the Lebanese forces-PSP on the other, have the possibility of preventing the necessary quorum from being reached to elect the head of state: 86 deputies, equivalent to two thirds of the Camera. At the beginning of the session, two parliamentary groups, Kataëb and those related to the protest groups, attacked the very validity of the meeting called by the president of the Chamber to examine the message of the head of state. Invoking art. 75 of the Constitution, argued that since October 31 Parliament has become an electoral college and, consequently, its sole and exclusive task is to meet “only” to elect a president. Position shared by two high-profile figures in the Assembly: Sunni MP Achraf Rifi (independent/Tripoli) and presidential candidate Michel Moawad (independent/Zghorta).
The Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Raï, before leaving for the Bahrain Interreligious Forum – which includes the participation of Pope Francis – issued a statement calling for the organization of an international conference in Lebanon, but under the auspices of the UN. The objective is to iron out the factors of discord and reach a common position. For his part, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (no relation to the former president) reiterated to the officers gathered in his presence that the Armed Forces will forcefully repress any minimal attack on internal security at such a delicate moment in history. from the country.
