The Constitutional Council on Thursday announced the annulment of some articles of the state budget and the “clarification” of other articles based on appeals filed by the Change parliamentary bloc and other parties.
“Our decisions are binding and the Constitutional Council is an independent authority that is not linked to anyone,” Council chief Judge Tannous Meshleb said at a press conference.
As for the absence of a final account, Tannous argued that Lebanon is “not in a normal situation in order to ask the government and parliament to submit a final account.”
“That’s why we left it (the budget) as it is in general while amending three articles,” Tannous added.
As for the multiplicity of dollar exchange rates in the budget, Tannous said the Council clarified that the official exchange rate should be “unified.”
The Council also annulled an article allowing the ministers of public works, finance and interior to exempt certain individuals and parties from airport entry and exit fees, arguing that the jurisdiction to impose or lift taxes belongs to parliament.
The three articles that were fully annulled relate to the public procurement law, a ban on the sale of land lots in the town of Kfour and another related to mukhtars.
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