MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Aoun Saliba during a press conference on Jan. 19, 2023, announcing their sit-in at Parliament until the election of a president. (Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Almost a month after they began their parliamentary sit-in, Forces of Change MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Aoun Saliba on Sunday called on MPs to return to Parliament's chambers "and not leave until a president is elected."
On Jan. 19, after the most recent failed presidential electoral session, Khalaf and Aoun began a sit-in inside Parliament. Since then, no new session had been called by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who said he is waiting for a "consensus" between all parties.
"Go now to Parliament, and let's not leave until a new president is elected. This is what the Constitution says," Khalaf and Saliba said in a joint statement.
"You have to know that refraining from attending Parliament to complete the election is a clear violation of the Constitution, an insult to the agency we received from the people, a collective suicide and a genocide of all Lebanese people," the statement continued.
Since the beginning of their sit-in, the two MPs have justified their strike with Article 75 of the Lebanese Constitution, which stipulates: "The chamber meeting to elect the President of the Republic shall be considered an electoral body and not a legislative assembly. It must proceed immediately, without discussion of any other act, to elect the Head of the State."
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri previously stated that he is against holding an open parliamentary session until a president is elected.
"For god's sake, stand against those who block the election. Stand against those who are searching to elect a president that doesn't rescue [the country]," the statement added.
Videos and interviews with the two MPs depict them inside an unlit Parliament building, lit only by their cellphones.
Lebanon is suffering from the first double executive vacancy in its history. The country has been without a president since Oct. 31, when Michel Aoun's term ended, and the cabinet has been in caretaker status since the May 2022 parliamentary elections.