On the verge of the end of the term of the President of the Republic, “Michel Aoun” on October 31, 2022, and it is likely that the presidency will be handed over to a vacuum, unless major settlements take place before this date in the region and the Middle East affecting Lebanon. From obstructing and preventing the formation of governments or disrupting them, there has been, and to the void, an artificial and unjustified constitutional debate about the powers of the President of the Republic and the presidential team’s refusal to assume the powers of the President by the caretaker government as an incomplete government.
The head of the Maronite League, Ambassador Khalil Karam, conveyed the vision of President Aoun after his meeting with him at Baabda Palace on August 25, 2022, which is summarized by the inability of the caretaker government to fully exercise its responsibilities in the event that a new President of the Republic cannot be elected, and that the vacuum is at the level of the executive authority Incomplete specifications and not obtaining the confidence of the House of Representatives cannot fill a void at the level of the presidency. President Aoun stressed the need to form a new government as soon as possible, and that this entitlement should not be disrupted in order to achieve the supreme national interest, regular work in constitutional institutions, and safeguard national partnership through the formation of a new government and the election of a new president.
The irony in the president’s words and his call not to disrupt the government’s entitlement is that it does not fit with his personal practices and his firm responsibility for obstructing the formation of governments or obstructing him in order to impose the conditions of his political current on the designated prime minister, and to dominate the ministerial formation in a clear abuse and flagrant confiscation of the powers of the designated president under Article 64 of the Constitution. The crisis of forming governments has been repeated, and the policy of “floating the vacuum” was established during the era of President Aoun, as it did not happen in all previous presidential terms. On the issuance of this decree under Clause 4 of Article 53 of the Constitution. The truth is that the authority of the President of the Republic to issue a decree to form the government in agreement with the Prime Minister cannot be transformed from a correct constitutional point of view into the power to refrain from issuing the formation decree until unconstitutional conditions are imposed on the designated president, and prevent him from pursuing his constitutional mission in forming the government in preparation for its progress. From the House of Representatives with its ministerial statement to gain confidence within thirty days from the date of issuance of the formation decree.
Powers of the President of the Republic under the Constitution
Although it is stipulated in Article 65 of the Constitution that procedural power is to be entrusted to the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic remains with specific powers stipulated in the Lebanese Constitution, and these powers are well known in traditional parliamentary systems. The President of the Republic cannot exercise his powers completely independently of the Council of Ministers. All of his decisions must be signed by the Prime Minister and the relevant minister or ministers, with the exception of the decree naming the Prime Minister and the decree accepting the government’s resignation or considering it resigned in accordance with Article 54 of the Constitution. Among the powers of the president, for example: to issue laws according to constitutional deadlines and to request their publication (Article 51). The Prime Minister participates with him in signing the decrees of laws (Article 54). Negotiating and concluding international treaties in agreement with the Prime Minister after the approval of the Council of Ministers. In some cases, after the approval of the House of Representatives (Article 52). In agreement with the Prime Minister, a decree to form the government and decrees accepting the resignation or dismissal of ministers shall be issued. He accredits ambassadors and accepts their accreditation. He presides over official ceremonies and awards state decorations by decree. A special pardon is granted by decree. Any emergency order shall be presented to the Council of Ministers from outside the agenda. To request the Council of Ministers to dissolve the House of Representatives in the cases stipulated in the constitution, and to issue a decree of dissolution. And a request to the Council of Ministers to reconsider any of the Council’s decisions within 15 days from the date the decision was deposited with the Presidency of the Republic. He asked to reconsider the law after informing the Council of Ministers.
The presidential vacuum and the transfer of the powers of the president to the Council of Ministers
We remain in the Constitution and the text of Article 62, as amended by Constitutional Law No. 18 dated 9/21/1990: “In the event that the presidency is vacant for any reason, the powers of the President of the Republic are vested in an agency of the Council of Ministers.” Likewise, the text of Article 64: “…the government shall not exercise its powers before gaining the confidence nor after its resignation or considering it resigned, except in the narrow sense of the conduct of business….”
First – Article 62 of the Constitution: This article is considered clear and explicit in its text that if the presidency is vacant for any reason, including the expiry of the president’s term without being able to elect a new president for example, the powers of the President of the Republic are assumed by the Cabinet’s agency, and the phrase contained In this article, the term “the Council of Ministers” is literally stipulated, not the term “the government.” Therefore, the issue is related to the “Council of Ministers” assuming these powers, regardless of the status of the “government,” whether it is a government of confidence or not, or whether it is a resigned government or as it has resigned. . This is consistent with the principle of continuity, and not falling into the constitutional vacuum, which is the position of jurisprudence and ijtihad in most countries of the world.
Second – Article 64 of the Constitution: Through this article and what was mentioned in the second clause of it regarding caretaker governments, the question remains: What is the benefit of the constitutional debate about the extent to which the powers of the President of the Republic will be transferred under the caretaker government as long as Article 64 of the Constitution is imposed on the government before Gaining the confidence of the House of Representatives, after her resignation, or considering her resigned, exercising her powers within the narrow meaning of conducting business?
What the caretaker government does in this narrow sense during the term of office of the President of the Republic, and the participation of the Prime Minister and the competent ministers in signing with the President of the Republic on all his decisions, does not differ from what this government can do after the end of the presidential term to achieve the state’s interest and security and strengthen its foreign relations, what Except for the decree naming the Prime Minister and the decree accepting the resignation of the government or considering it resigned, which the President of the Republic signs exclusively by virtue of Article 54 of the Constitution. Although it is a caretaker government awaiting the election of a new president and the formation of a new government, there is no real point in this controversy except within the framework of a political campaign led by the Free Patriotic Movement with the approach of the constitutional deadline for the president’s term and the demise of the covenant under fake titles and battles under the pretext of defending the position of the presidency The rights of Christians in Lebanon.
The result: an artificial debate about the powers of the president and factional and sectarian goals
An artificial and empty debate about the powers of the President of the Republic, the continued violation of the constitution and the falsity of its provisions, and the invasion of the head of state and his advisors to the text of Article 62 through unconstitutional fatwas to strike at the institutions and what remained of the shattered foundations of the state in Lebanon. Factional and sectarian goals and incitement to sedition starts with the call for President Aoun to stay in Baabda Palace after the end of his presidential term and until a new president is elected, and does not end with the heresy of handing over the powers of the President of the Republic to the army commander, and the recent innovations of the presidential movement in threatening the judiciary with accountability, and continuing the war on The Taif constitution and the position and powers of the prime minister’s office in the Lebanese parliamentary system.