Change and Reform: We'll Resort to All Legal Measures to Reject Extension

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday vowed to resort to “all legal measures” to reject the proposed extension of the parliament's term, stressing that the issue “will not be a walk in the park” for the proponents of such a move.

“We are with holding the presidential vote, but it must be preceded by a (constitutional) amendment that allows direct election by the people,” the bloc's secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the weekly meeting in Rabieh.

“Is it a crime to resort to the people's will? Why isn't this a priority while extension is a priority?” he wondered.

The MP warned that confining the presidential vote to the parliamentary polls would be “a grave and rejected mistake.”

“Preparations for parliamentary elections should have started a year and a half ago,” he pointed out.

“The bloc announces that it will resort to all legal measures to reject extension. All democratic measures are on the table,” Kanaan added.

He emphasized that Change and Reform is “serious more than anyone can imagine regarding respect for the Constitution and rejection of extension.”

“This issue will be discussed with everyone and the stances and measures that we'll take will materialize in the coming days,” said Kanaan.

“When problems happen, the solution is to resort to elections, and we won't accept that the elections be usurped under various slogans,” he noted.

Commenting on the security situation, the lawmaker added: “Enough with mistakes and hiding behind slogans that have cost Lebanon a hefty security bill. Where is the seriousness regarding our demands in the issue of (Syrian) refugees?”

He called on the government, parliament and political blocs to “shoulder their responsibilities in the issue of refugees,” underlining that “Lebanon cannot withstand humanitarian slogans from now on.”

Some political blocs have been demanding that the parliamentary elections, which are set for November, be held even if a head of state is not elected.

Others have been demanding that parliament's term be extended for a second time given the vacuum, poor security situation, and dispute over an electoral law.

The same arguments had led to a 17-month extension of parliament's term last year.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have been impeding the elections.

Y.R.