Berri Accuses All Parties of Causing Baabda Vacuum since March 2014
Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that Baabda Palace has been vacant for the past 14 months, blaming all political parties for the failure to elect a new president.
Several local dailies on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that Lebanon has been suffering from a presidential vacuum since March 24, 2014, the day the 60-day constitutional deadline began for the election of a head of state.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended on May 25 last year, the longest time the post has been vacant since the devastating civil war ended in 1990.
The rival camps failed to elect a successor despite around 23 parliamentary sessions. The MPs have not met the two-thirds quorum required to hold an electoral session.
“This is a failure for all the political parties and parliamentary blocs. All of them, without any exception, are responsible for it,” Berri said.
“The only difference is that when the constitutional deadline for the election of a new president began on March 24, 2014, we were better off than now. We had a government that assumed its responsibilities and took a lot of decisions,” he told his visitors.
“Also, parliament used to meet and legislate,” the speaker said.
“Today, neither the government nor the parliament are functioning properly,” he lamented.
Parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions -- the first starts mid-march until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December.
“Five days from now, the legislature's first ordinary session will expire. It will enter a three-month stage during which there won't be extraordinary sessions,” said Berri.
Article 33 of the Constitution confirms that extraordinary sessions can be held at the request of "an absolute majority" of the parliament. But there is no majority support for such a move.
So far there is “no sign” that the rival parties could agree on the election of a new president, Berri said in response to a question.
Asked about the security situation, he told his visitors that “security is good due to the ongoing dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement.”
“Security forces are implementing their missions,” he said.
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