Presidential hopeful and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday that his bloc was still mulling whether to attend a legislative session in Parliament next week.
Aoun’s move came as Berri chastised and threatened to take unspecified measures against MPs who boycott Parliament, amid growing fears that the vacuum in the presidency would spread to Parliament and the rest of the government.
Asked if his bloc would attend Tuesday’s session in Parliament aimed at debating a controversial law on public salaries, Aoun said the issue was “under consideration.”
“We discussed urgent files that need an understanding, mainly the election of a new president and the work of both the Cabinet and Parliament in light of a presidential void,” Aoun said following his visit to Berri’s Ain al-Tineh residence.
Aoun’s bloc had vowed not to attend legislative sessions in Parliament until a president was elected. The position of head of state has been vacant since former President Michel Sleiman’s term ended in late May, with the March 8 and 14 political blocs failing to reach a consensus on his successor.
Joining Aoun’s lawmakers, other Christian MPs and the Future Movement boycotted a legislative session last week, saying they would only vote on emergency bills.
Asked if Berri had told him that he would back his candidacy for the presidency, Aoun said “Berri is the one entitled to speak for himself and not me.”
Aoun also said that his group was maintaining cooperation and dialogue with the Future Movement, but would not provide further details.
Berri has set June 9 as the new date for a presidential election session in Parliament, but no consensus has yet been achieved among Lebanon’s political rivals over a candidate. The legislature has failed to elect a new president during the five sessions it has held so far beginning on April 23.
The presidential void has also created a new challenge for officials who have yet to agree on the mechanism of the Cabinet’s work in the absence of a head of state.
Christian lawmakers have argued that Parliament should not continue to legislate normally while the presidency is vacant.
Berri weighed in on the debate in remarks published by a local newspaper Wednesday, warning lawmakers against continuing their boycott of Parliament sessions and threatening to take serious measures against them.
Berri also hosted Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk Wednesday, who said after the meeting that the speaker had reiterated his warning against obstructing the political process amid the presidential vacuum.
“The presidential vacuum does not only concern a certain sect or political party. It is a problem for all Lebanese who will collaborate to end this vacuum, but not through obstructing the work of institutions,” Machnouk said after visiting Berri.
He acknowledged that disrupting the political process was one way to exercise political pressure to hasten the election of a president, but urged officials to use other means.
“Obstructing these two institutions, [the Cabinet and Parliament], will not hasten the election of the president,” added Machnouk, who is close to the Future Movement.
Machnouk spoke on behalf of Berri, saying the latter considered the Constitution the basis for his political action.
Machnouk’s comments suggest that the Future Movement may decide to attend next Tuesday’s legislative session despite their earlier boycott. Future MPs have regularly attended previous legislative sessions along with parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a new president.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah reiterated that the election of a president must occur “as soon as possible” by reaching a consensus between the March 8 and 14 political blocs.
“It is a joint responsibility for all,” said Sheikh Nabil Qawouq, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council. “The presidential election cannot be resolved except by consensus between March 8 and 14 groups.”
Qawouq blamed the March 14 bloc for the presidential vacuum, saying they were not ready to begin serious negotiations to end the crisis.
Hezbollah and its allies have boycotted electoral sessions in Parliament in the absence of a consensus candidate. This has prevented the sessions from reaching a quorum.
For his part, Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed his disappointment with the failure to elect a president, saying he was concerned that the executive branch and the legislature may be paralyzed as a result of the presidential vacuum.
Salam’s concerns were outlined in a news conference by Abdel-Hadi Mahfouz, the head of the National Media Council, after he met with the prime minister.
Mahfouz said that Salam would publicly call out those who were obstructing Lebanon’s institutions.
