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The Constitutional Council will issue a final decision Wednesday on petitions contesting the extension of Parliament’s term amid controversial reports over whether the body is going to endorse or dismiss challenges put forth. The head of the Constitutional Council Judge Issam Suleiman presented Monday his report on the challenge to the 10-member body, a judicial source told The Daily Star. The half-Muslim, half-Christian council will issue a pronouncement on Suleiman’s report Wednesday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday unanimously declared Lebanon-based Hezbollah a terrorist organization and said it would take measures against the group’s interest in the Gulf countries.
“All GCC countries are convinced that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Ghanim bin Fadl Al-Buainain told reporters following a meeting of GCC foreign ministers in Jeddah.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced his intention Wednesday to revive the dormant National Dialogue after the country saw a rise in Syria-linked violence in the past week.

“I urge President Michel Sleiman, the symbol of the country’s unity, to call for dialogue where every party will attend without preconditions and will be willing to make concessions for the sake of the homeland,” Mikati said in a nationally televised speech from the Grand Serail in Beirut.

As the Interior Ministry witnessed Friday a deluge of candidates to register for the elections, the extension of Parliament’s mandate gained momentum amid the deteriorating security situation in Tripoli.

Ministry sources said 241 candidates filed applications to run, bringing to 403 the number of those who have registered for the June polls on the basis of the controversial 1960 vote law.

Caretaker Minister of State Nicolas Fattoush presented Parliament with a draft law Wednesday to extend the legislature’s term, as rival parties negotiated the duration of the extension.

Fattoush requested that Parliament’s term be extended for two years, until June 20, 2015. According to Zahle MP Fattoush’s proposal, the extension of Parliament’s mandate is justified in order to avoid a political vacuum in the country, given that a caretaker government is currently managing state affairs.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced the Interior Ministry will resume election registration on Monday, but he said the polls could not be held on the schedule under the current 1960 law.

“Tomorrow on Monday I will allow hopefuls to submit their candidacies again until Saturday and I will ask the government to convene to make the needed allocations for elections and form an election supervisory committee,” Charbel said in remarks published by a local media outlet Sunday.

Speaker Nabih Berri revived the subcommittee tasked with studying a new electoral law and headed its first meeting Wednesday after a Parliament session failed to secure quorum to vote on the controversial Orthodox Gathering proposal.

The legislative session was postponed until May 17 to allow members of the committee to resume talks, particularly on a hybrid electoral law which is backed by some March 14 parties and also won Wednesday the support of MP Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc.

Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday scheduled four consecutive legislative sessions for next week to study a new electoral law with the Orthodox Gathering topping the legislature’s agenda.

Meanwhile, the Future Movement reiterated its opposition to the Orthodox proposal.

Lawmakers who visited Berri quoted the speaker as saying the consecutive sessions would begin on May 15 in order to discuss and approve a new electoral law.

BEIRUT: Maronite Bishop Bulos Matar informed Speaker Nabih Berri Friday of Bkirki's opposition to postponing the elections which would extend Parliament's term.

After talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, Matar, delegated by Cardinal Beshara Rai, said: “Discussion centered on the necessity to hold elections on time because that is in the highest interest of the nation and it is impossible to do away with such an interest.”