Lawmakers to Discuss Suleiman's Message on Wednesday
Speaker Nabih Berri called on Monday for a parliamentary session to tackle a message sent by President Michel Suleiman to the parliament regarding the presidential elections.
The session is set to be held on Wednesday at noon.
Suleiman's message last week urged the parliament to act in accordance with the Constitution to avert the dangers that could arise from the failure to elect a new head of state by May 25.
There are fears that the vacuum in the country's top Christian post would affect Lebanon's power-sharing agreement under which the president should be a Maronite, the premier a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.
The president's message has only a moral value and isn't binding, however, the speaker is obliged to read it at the parliament in accordance with the authorities given to the head of state by clause 10 of article 53 of the Constitution.
Parliament has so far failed to elect a new president over differences between the March 8 and 14 alliances.
A fifth round of polls is scheduled to be held Thursday, two days before the expiry of Suleiman's six-year tenure.
The message is the third of-its-kind handed over to the parliament since the adoption of the Taif accord.
Lebanon's First Post-War President Elias Hrawi had urged the parliament in his message to approve civil marriage in the country and to establish the “National Authority for the abolition of political sectarianism,” and former President Emile Lahoud dispatched a message regarding the electoral law.
H.K.
M.T.
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