Beirut: For the 41st time, Lebanese parliamentarians failed to ensure a quorum and elect a head of state to succeed Michel Sulaiman, who completed his tenure on May 24, 2014. Much like the past 40 times, the assembly managed to gather a few deputies — 30 on Thursday — though a two-thirds majority (86 of 128) was required. Those who accepted the Speaker’s invitation included March 14 deputies, including Phalange Party leader Sami Gemayel and Future parliamentary bloc head Fouad Siniora. The Speaker, who set a new session for July 13, was absent.
After the truncated session, Gemayel proclaimed Lebanon “an undemocratic country,” and called on Prime Minister Tammam Salam to tender his resignation. Speaking to a party youth group, Gemayel proposed that it was better if the Cabinet were to become a caretaker government “so it can stop making damaging decisions with its (suspicious) deals,” which are apparently hurting everyone. The Phalange, he affirmed, tried to work inside the government but could no longer do so, especially after “the prime minister himself stated that the Cabinet was corrupt and a failure”.
Thursday’s 41st convocation provided yet another opportunity to launch direct attacks on rivals, as Future deputy Ahmad Fatfat reiterated his criticisms of Hezbollah for hindering the Constitutional institutions at every level.
Telecommunications Minister and deputy Boutros Harb described the ongoing dilemma as “a crime against Lebanon,” while Siniora met with Lebanese Forces (LF) deputy George Adwan and Amal Movement’s Ali Bazzi, though no one revealed what was discussed.
One possible topic that may have prompted the tripartite conversation hovered around the new electoral law since Adwan took to the airwaves to urge rival officials to choose between two options, dialogue or a new vote law, though this was even more confusing than some of his previous pronouncements. “Amid the worsening situation of the Cabinet and the paralysed Parliament, the financial and economic situation is dangerously deteriorating, and the Lebanese are ultimately paying the price,” Adwan declared after meeting Siniora and Bazzi.
The time was upon the Lebanese, he continued, to seriously consider the Speaker’s proposal to pass a new electoral law, hold parliamentary elections, and then elect a new president even if Adwan’s boss, the LF’s Samir Geagea, rejected this methodology. At best, what this umpteenth declaration highlighted was the deliberate confusion that Lebanese officials were engaged in, aware that disputes lingered over two hybrid laws prepared to replace the contested 1960 winner-takes-all system.
Both of these proposals contained valid mechanisms although no consensus existed on adopting either. The first proposal, presented by the Speaker, adopted a hybrid electoral law whereby 64 deputies would be elected on the basis of proportional representation, while the remaining 64 would be elected on a winner-takes-all system. The second, backed by Future, the LF and the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), would have 60 deputies elected on the basis of proportional representation, and the remaining 68 on a winner-takes-all system.
Michel Aoun, presumably Hezbollah’s sole candidate for the presidency and who now benefited from the LF’s backing as well, preferred the Hezbollah plan, which is based on proportionality with Lebanon considered a single constituency. Both Future and the PSP, along with several smaller parties, rejected this option in full that illustrated stubborn entanglements in Lebanon.
