Connelly Warns Constitutional Council Crisis 'Undermines International Confidence'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly has reiterated that the Constitutional Council's failure to meet without the interference of Lebanon's political leaders undermines the confidence of the international community in the country.
“It is for the Constitutional Council and its members alone to rule on the matters before it, but what is most important is that the Council meets as required by law and that it considers the issues before it without political interference,” Connelly said in remarks at an entrepreneurship reception held at the embassy in Awkar on Thursday night.
“The inability to do so undermines international confidence in Lebanon and will have ramifications beyond the political arena,” she added.
Three judges - two Shiites and a Druze - boycotted a meeting of the Council for the second day in a row on Wednesday, depriving the 10-member body of the quorum needed to rule on petitions filed against the extension of parliament's mandate.
The meeting was aimed at discussing a report drafted by the Council's president, Judge Issam Suleiman, on the petitions filed by President Michel Suleiman and the Change and Reform bloc earlier this month to challenge the 17-month extension of parliament’s four-year term.
The absence of the three judges was a clear sign of political interference and an attempt by several officials to prevent the Council from issuing a decision on the petitions.
The lack of quorum would make the 17-month extension law valid after the end of parliament's mandate on June 20.
The embassy said on its twitter account on Wednesday that the boycott further erodes Lebanon’s democracy, and reflects lack of respect for Lebanon’s institutions and rule of law.
The council “should consider and rule on the challenges before it without political interference,” it said.
14 June 2013, 10:06
13
This round of partisanship began with the boycott by M14 months ago and has escalated until now the Constitutional Court can't even convene because of political gamesmanship ...
It is time for both M8 and M14 to grow up and start governing Lebanon instead of trading charges and insults. Lebanon is in the top 20% of violent countries and the infrastructure is crumbling.
14 June 2013, 10:29
12
Connelly is just saying that the last bastion of the Lebanese state has been overrun.
14 June 2013, 11:18
11
Connelly looks like a deformed fat cow which caws like an ugly crow. It would be better for her image if she concentrates her effort in the improvement of her ridiculous shape rather than sticking her nose into other people's affair.
14 June 2013, 20:00
00
A particular fat cow wants the elections to occur under the 1960 law. Go eat a burger at Burger King cow. mooooooo. Leave the Lebanese alone for a change.
14 June 2013, 21:24
00
Forget about confidence for a moment. What International is that after all? As if this meaningless confidence in a meaningless matter concerning a bunch of meaningless members of parliament elected in meaningless votes by a majority of meaningless idiots who enjoy the meaningless abyss they put themselves in and are so stupid and well deserved (i.e. kharjon ba3d aktar) to keep digging themselves deeper into sh..t means anything! After all, whatever measures these Internationalists take affect only the idiots that I mention above and does not affect any of those the idiots select to keep sh...ing on them. But the Internationalistas are even bigger idiots because they think the Lebanese idiots will exert pressure on the parliamentarians. The pressure they exert is self-inflicted, idiots.
15 June 2013, 06:17
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Naharnet, enjoy your two-days-a-week work buddies. It is as if you are mwazzafin dawleh! La vita e bella at Naharnet, I guess. It doesn't matter if it will be days or weeks before you get your butts back at your desks. We write our comments and let chance play its part when it comes to seeing them get published.
