From right to left: MPs Melhem Khalaf, Halimé El Kaakour, Paula Yacoubian, Najat Aoun Saliba and Cynthia Zarazir, on Jan. 19, 2023 in Parliament, in the dark, to call for the election of a president of the republic. (Credit: Twitter/@halime_el)
BEIRUT — Several MPs from the popular protest movement were still in Parliament on Thursday night, in the dark, as they made clear their objections to the delay in electing a new Lebanese president. Lebanon remains without a president despite the electoral period beginning in September, former President Michel Aoun's term ending on Oct. 31 and Parliament holding no fewer than 11 sessions — the most recent of them earlier Thursday — dedicated to electing a successor.
MP Halimé El Kaakour posted Thursday night on her Twitter account a photo of the popular protest MPs Melhem Khalaf, Najat Saliba, Paula Yacoubian and Cynthia Zarazir, as well as herself, inside the Parliament chamber, in the dark, several hours after an 11th election session to choose Aoun's successor ended in failure.
"I went to the Parliament as a sign of solidarity with Melhem Khalaf and Najat Aoun," Kaakour wrote. "The Parliament is paralyzed, whether it is in terms of accountability, legislation or the election of a president. This paralysis of democracy is due to the heresies called 'compliance with the National Pact and consensus,'" she added.
In a press conference held on Thursday morning inside Parliament, Khalaf and Saliba said that they would remain in the building until a president is elected. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has not announced a date for the next session to elect a head of state.
Berri's party, Amal, as well as Hezbollah and its allies, have repeatedly withdrawn from electoral session after the first round of voting, scuttling quorum and thereby terminating the sessions.