Berri: Constitutional Council Ruling Obstructs Implementing the New Rent Law

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday considered the Constitutional Council's recent decision about the new rent law as a hurdle in the face of implementing it, asking the council to reconsider its ruling in order to make it “fair.”

“After studying the rent law as amended by the Constitutional Council, which took a decision to annul two articles and a paragraph, we found out that the decision they made practically disrupts the mechanism of implementing 37 other articles of the revised law, therefore obstructing the implementation of all of the law's stipulations,” MPs quoted Berri as saying after the weekly Wednesday meeting in Ain al-Tineh.

Berri called upon “the (parliamentary) Administration and Justice Committee to quicken the revision of the law, and to adjust it in a way that makes implementing it possible and fair for everyone.”

The rent law was put into force on December 28 and its stipulations have started to affect some measures.

But the Constitutional Council annulled Articles 7 and 13 and the paragraph B-4 of Article 18, which will oblige the Administration and Justice Committee to modify them to pave the way for implementing the law.

Berri's remarks that the law is “inapplicable” stirred controversy, but sources from Ain al-Tineh clarified to MTV that “the new law has entered into force.”

The law was approved by parliament in early April despite a few objections from some MPs who considered that it would lead to unprecedented displacement of residents.

The renters described the law as unfair and harmful, warning that it would lead to a major “demographic segregation” and would harm religious coexistence. The owners, meanwhile, believe that the law is fair and paves the way for dialogue between them and the renters.

Also on Wednesday, the committee of the owners of old rent law properties described Berri's stances as logical, expressing its support for adjusting the two aforementioned articles and the paragraph. It also stressed that the law was put into force anyway.

M.Y.

Y.R.