Kataeb Rejects 'Full Coping' with Vacuum, Vows No Leniency on Govt. Mechanism

The Kataeb Party rejected Monday what it described as an attempt at “full coping” with the presidential vacuum through the ongoing efforts to find a new mechanism for the cabinet's work.

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party lamented that lawmakers have failed to elect a new president despite having held 19 parliamentary sessions to that end.

The Baabda Palace has been vacant since president Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure ended in May last year. Political disputes and electoral rivalry have so far prevented quorum in all the electoral sessions.

The 24-minister cabinet assumed presidential powers after Suleiman's departure but its meetings were suspended around two weeks ago due to a dispute over the signatures needed to issue decrees.

Kataeb's ministers have rejected any amendments to the mechanism, through which decrees were being passed with the signatures of all 24 ministers, stressing that their priority is the election of a new president.

In its statement on Monday, the party underlined that it will not be lenient regarding the mechanism, because “it represents the final step towards full coping with vacuum and towards dangerous adaptation to the absence of a head of state.”

“Kataeb will not be a partner in this approach and the partly urgently demands heading to parliament and electing a president to restore regularity in the work of institutions,” Kataeb added.

It called on the government to “hold a closed-door meeting to specify the social and developmental priorities of all regions and keep the vital facilities away from politicization and populism.”

Y.R.