Islamic Council criticizes the "bypass" of the presidential election

The Islamic Council after a meeting presided by Lebanon's top Sunni religious authority, Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, criticized in a Sunday statement the authorities, and implicitly President Michel Aoun, “bypassing” the issue of the upcoming presidential elections.

Here’s what we know:

    • "Lebanon needs a new president, especially after the series of positions that respect neither the spirit of the Constitution nor the Taif agreement nor the pact of living together," Derian said in the statement. Although Aoun had said he would vacate Baabda on Oct. 31, the constitutional deadline for electing a new president, there is speculation that he will remain in office. In the event that no president is elected by Oct. 31, in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution, the duties of the president will be delegated to a new cabinet, or, in the case there is none, to the government in charge of current affairs.

    • Derian also criticized the ruling power for “preoccupying itself with the formation of a new government or the reshuffling of the current ministerial team chaired by Najib Mikati." As the cabinet formation stalls, proposals for the new government include either the replacement of two ministers in the outgoing cabinet or the enlargement of this cabinet from 24 to 30 ministers by incorporating six ministers of state, with the aim of giving the future team a political consistency.

    • The statement comes amid fears of a presidential and governmental vacuum as tensions rise between the presidency and the Grand Serail. Thursday, Maronite League head Khalil Karam said after a visit to Baabda that his organization supports “the formation of a new government as quickly as possible and the election of a new president within the constitutional delay” while the Sunni authority called for respect for “constitutional texts.”