Ongoing Row over Constitutionality of Parliamentary Session

Discussions over a two-day parliamentary session reached a dead-end on Tuesday amid a sharp row over its constitutionality as al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc insisted on boycotting it if Speaker Nabih Berri failed to modify its agenda.

Head of al-Mustaqbal Parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora told reporters after talks with Berri, on the sidelines of a session set to elect the parliament's bureau committee members and the parliamentary committees members, that Wednesday's session is “unconstitutional.”

He pointed out that the bloc will not attend the two-day session.

For his part, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said that Berri has the “keys to the parliament.”

While Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel told reporters that there's no need to hold a session “as there is no state.”

Lawmakers earlier elected the same members to the parliament's bureau committee and the parliamentary committees without any modification.

The controversial two-day legislative session that Berri called for is set to discuss 45 items on its agenda, the same session that has been boycotted for five times since July over differences on whether the parliament can convene amid a resigned government or not.

The previous sessions were boycotted by the March 14 coalition, caretaker PM Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform parliamentary bloc.

Miqati and the March 14 alliance argue that the parliament can only discuss urgent items, while Aoun has boycotted over Berri's failure to include his bloc's items on the session's agenda.

However, Berri is holding on to his stance that the parliament can convene at any time to discuss draft-laws.

He insists on keeping the 45 draft-laws on the session's agenda, saying that he would continue to call on MPs for a General Assembly meeting until the agenda is discussed.

An Nahar newspaper reported earlier that Berri and Saniora meeting will be held in presence of several March 14 MPs.

According to An Nahar daily published on Tuesday, the coalition held a meeting on Monday eve to discuss the possibility of attending Wednesday's parliamentary session, the process of cabinet formation and the developments in neighboring country Syria.