Beirut (Union)
The head of the Lebanese caretaker government, Najib Mikati, confirmed yesterday that the vacuum in the constitutional institutions contradicts the purpose for which the constitution was found, and puts the country in the unknown.
Mikati called, during a cabinet session held yesterday, to expedite the election of a president for the republic in light of the objection of some to convening cabinet sessions due to questioning their constitutionality, hoping that the visit of the French presidential envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, would be an occasion to advance solutions in the presidential file.
He added, “It is strange that some people continue to fail to carry out their duties in electing the President of the Republic, and they prejudice the government, and therefore we call for expediting the election of the President, and we are not a fan of fabricating problems, and what we are doing is to preserve institutions, serve people, and manage urgent matters. We are against obstruction and with continuous productivity. He pointed out that the Constitutional Council stressed that the government should convene in a caretaker body, and exercise the powers of the acting president of the republic, even if it is in the caretaker stage. The session was held after a quorum was completed, to discuss an agenda of 35 items, the most important of which was the approval of renewing the mandate of the international forces operating in southern Lebanon “UNIFIL” for the period 2023-2024, Lebanon’s participation in the Doha Expo 2023, approval of the mechanism for purchasing wheat and barley, and approval of Recruitment of civil defense volunteers, and issuance of draft decrees aimed at promoting officers of the security services.
The Council of Ministers had held eight previous government sessions after the presidential vacancy, the last of which was on June 13, in the absence of a number of ministers, most of whom belong to the Free Patriotic Movement, because they objected to holding cabinet sessions in light of the presidential vacancy, on a constitutional and charter grounds.
In the context, yesterday, the former French minister and French presidential envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, arrived in Beirut on a visit scheduled to last 3 days, during which he will hold talks with a number of political officials, dealing with the file of electing a new president for the republic.
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Le Drian as his personal representative to hold discussions with everyone who can, in Lebanon and abroad, to contribute to a way out of the crisis that Lebanon is suffering from, provided that Le Drian presents proposals in this regard to the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the President of France. French Republic.
Since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s term at the end of October, Parliament has failed 12 times to elect a president due to a sharp political division, and no party has a majority that enables it alone to bring its candidate to the position.
All parliament members attended the last election session a week ago, but the first voting session did not result in electing a president, with Franjieh and former minister Jihad Azour getting a close number of votes.
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