Hennawi Says Suleiman Should Stay in Office 'until Election of New President'

Sports and Youth Minister Abdul Muttaleb Hennawi, who is close to President Michel Suleiman, on Monday stressed the need to find a constitutional solution that would allow the president to stay in office “until the election of a new president” should MPs fail to elect a head of state before May 25.

In an interview with the Central News Agency, Hennawi said a “mistake” was committed in 2007 upon the end of then president Emile Lahoud's term, “when the country was left to face a seven-month presidential vacuum.”

The minister called on experts to “find a solution to fill this constitutional gap and forbid the recurrence of the vacuum mistake.”

“Just like there is an exit that prevents vacuum at the helms of the legislative and executive authorities, a formula allowing an incumbent president to stay in office until the election of a new president must be devised,” Hennawi explained.

He noted that such a solution will not be aimed at serving Suleiman's own interest, stressing that it would be beneficial for “Lebanon's future.”

The minister said the cabinet should prepare a draft law in this regard and refer it to parliament where it would be put to a vote.

“Leaving the country without a president will be detrimental,” Hennawi warned, adding that the National Pact – a 1943 unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state – must be preserved.

“Lawmakers are no better than the president and the same as they extended their own terms last year, let them act to maintain continuity in the country's top post until the election of a new president, for the sake of the country's interest,” the minister stated.

In remarks published earlier on Monday, al-Akhbar newspaper had reported that Suleiman asked Shadi Karam, one of his advisers, to draft a clause that would allow him to stay in power should MPs fail to elect a successor.

Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarchate sources told LBCI television in the evening that “under all circumstances, President Suleiman will need a constitutional amendment to be able to stay in office after the end of his term.”

The parliament has so far failed to elect a new president despite having held three electoral sessions since April 23. A fourth session is scheduled for May 15.

Suleiman, whose term ends on May 24, has stressed several times that he rejects any extension of his tenure. Hizbullah and its allies have also voiced their opposition to any such move.

Y.R.

S.D.B.