Parliament session, headed by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, on April 25, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Parliament voted on Thursday morning to extend the municipal and mayoral councils without amendment, sources inside Parliament told L'Orient Today, and the state-run National News Agency, until, at the latest, May 31, 2025.
They also approved a repeated urgent proposal aiming to specify the law applicable to volunteers confirmed in civil defense in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 289 of 2014 and Law No. 59 of 2017, submitted by MPs Jihad Samad, Ali Hassan Khalil, Ibrahim Kanaan, Amin Sherri, Tony Frangieh and Hassan Murad. Both proposals were approved by the majority of the attending MPs.
Parliament session to extend municipal and mayoral councils. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Deputy Gebran Bassil, justified his group attending the session — while they have boycotted other legislative meetings claiming they're not constitutional in the absence of an elected president — stating: "We were faced with two options, either vacancy [in municipal councils] or going to elections that wouldn't happen anyway," NNA reported.
Bassil added that "we cannot hold the Minister of Interior fully responsible [for the absence of elections] because he considers that there is no political atmosphere in the country." He guaranteed that, before taking the decision to attend the session and vote in favor of the extension, the FPM "ensured that financially the payments were not disbursed, and logistically the electoral lists were not distributed."
The elections, initially postponed in 2022 and again in 2023 due to financial reasons, face further delays amidst Israel's attacks on South Lebanon and ongoing tensions with Hezbollah. Critics suggest Lebanon could seek support from the IMF to facilitate the polls.
Despite a $10 million allocation in the 2024 budget, significant challenges remain, including staffing, identifying polling centers, security deployment, and political reluctance.
Caretaker Interior Ministry Bassam Mawlawi had proposed postponing elections in insecure areas, but this is contested by Hezbollah and Amal Movement, citing concerns about holding elections amidst ongoing Israeli bombardment and military activities.
On the other hand, in the past few days, several MPs and political groups had announced their boycott of the legislative session noting that it’s unconstitutional and that such decisions can’t be taken in the absence of a head of state. Most notably, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb party, the Forces of Change MP coalition and independent MP Bilal Hosheimy were among the boycotters of the session.
The MPs explained their stance in a statement that "since this legislative session is unconstitutional, and because we stand in solidarity with our people in the south who are in urgent need of electing a president, we have decided to withdraw from this session."
Municipal elections have been postponed twice previously due to funding issues. The latest postponement was in April 2023, when Parliament approved a law extending the councils' terms until May 31, 2024.
Lebanon has been without a head of state or fully empowered government since former President Michel Aoun’s mandate ended on Oct. 31 2022.
The Parliament has held 12 electoral sessions to elect a new president but to no avail.
Families of Aug.4 victims protest in front of Parliament
Before the session, one of the two groups representing the relatives of the victims of the Beirut Port blast held a protest in front of the Parliament and blocked the road for cars on Municipality Street "coinciding with the start of the legislative session, demanding the enactment of a law that would bring justice to the explosion's victims," NNA reported.
The families held banners demanding the signing of a law to equate the wounded of the explosion with army wounded and also to enact Law No. 196 for the care of the injured from the explosion. They also distributed pamphlets inside and outside the Parliament, threatening escalation and "storming Parliament if the law protecting the wounded is not enacted," according to NNA.
In December 2020, former President Michel Aoun signed a law aimed at compensating the families of the victims of the double explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, which left more than 200 dead and 6,500 injured.
"The injured in the explosion will receive lifelong health benefits from the National Social Security Fund and under the law concerning people with additional needs," a statement announced.
On Nov. 27, 2020, the Lebanese Parliament passed a law granting the status of "martyrs of the Lebanese army" to the victims of the twin explosions at the port. This status enables the families of the victims to receive the same compensation as that provided for the relatives of soldiers killed while on duty.