Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Elias Bou Saab has announced that holding local elections in Lebanon on their scheduled date next month is “almost impossible.” Bou Saab proposed extending the mandates of the municipal councils and mayors for four months to avoid a vacuum in the municipal and elective councils. The mandate is set to end on May 31 after a one-year extension last year, following an issue with funding. Bou Saab blamed the failure to secure funds on the government and proposed a law to extend the existing councils until September 30. It is likely to be discussed in a meeting today with the House of Representatives Bureau. Political difficulties and the ongoing presidential vacuum remain barriers to progress.
Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament: Holding municipal elections is “almost impossible”
Bou Saab proposes extending the mandate of local councils and mayors for 4 months
Thursday – 22 Ramadan 1444 A.H. – April 13, 2023 A.D. Issue number [
16207]
Beirut: Nazir Reda
Holding local elections in Lebanon on their supposed date, next month, has become an “almost impossible” task, according to the announcement of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, who adopted a legal way out to avoid a vacuum in the municipal and elective councils. Political difficulties in securing a quorum for a legislative session of Parliament, and political rejection of the legislation, in light of the presidential vacuum.
The mandate of the municipal councils and mayors ends on May 31, after a one-year extension last year, because the date of their holding at that time coincided with the date of the parliamentary elections. Her term was extended for an additional year after reaching 6 years, before her procedure this year collided with a funding stumbling block.
The political forces tried to find ways out of the funding file, as a member of the “Development and Liberation” bloc, Representative Ali Hassan Khalil, proposed a law proposal aimed at opening an appropriation in the previous year’s budget at a value of 1,500 billion pounds to cover the expenses of holding the municipal and elective elections for the year 2023; The fact that the 2023 budget has not been approved. Yesterday, a joint session of the parliamentary committees was held to discuss the proposal, but the meeting was not attended by the Minister of Interior in the caretaker government, Bassam Mawlawi. He was present at a ministerial committee meeting at the Grand Serail, and Finance Minister Youssef Khalil did not attend the meeting.
The meeting practically led yesterday to announcing the end of the process related to the procedures, as Bou Saab said that he had informed the Minister of Interior since the last session that there are 4 things that must be available, and he will be asked about them in the session held yesterday; The first is if the government was able to provide funding, and the Minister of Interior will also be asked if contact has been made with professors who are supposed to be employees of polling stations, and judges who supervise the elections, and he will also be asked whether public administration strikes are still in place, and whether the civil service departments are It still exists, and can citizens secure registration receipts? And did citizens submit their candidacies in the region in which it was opened, which is the north? Pointing out that the deputies heard that no one had submitted a request for candidacy.
The Director of Political Affairs at the Interior Ministry, Faten Younes, who is concerned with the elections file, attended the meeting to represent Mawlawi. Bou Saab said at the end of the conference: “We asked her about the readiness of the ministry, and she said: (Until this moment there is not a single penny),” and he blamed the failure on the government that is supposed to secure the funds, but “nothing was sent from the government, and it is able to secure funding.” By means through special drawing rights,” he added, “we have received messages that the issue is not serious, and if it was serious, the funds would have been secured.” There was no coordination meeting with the governors and district governors, to end with the result that “holding municipal and elective elections has become almost impossible.” Bou Saab pointed out that «there was almost unanimous agreement that it was logistical. Things have become difficult, and some insist on holding municipal elections, but this decision is with the government and not with the parliament, and the government was supposed to hold emergency meetings day and night. This is how they find solutions.
Bou Saab confirmed that he would propose a law to extend the municipal and elective councils for a period of four months… “No one wants to bear it. I am ready to take it in my personal capacity. I will present this proposal, and the first conversation will be with the head of the bloc, Gebran Bassil, to support this proposal. I hope that the other blocs will accept this proposal, and I will communicate with Speaker Berri in this regard.
Indeed, in the afternoon, Bou Saab submitted a proposal for an accelerated law, repeated with a single article, to extend the mandate of the existing municipal and elective councils until next September 30, i.e. 4 additional months, while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on the House of Representatives Bureau to a meeting to be held today, and it is likely that discuss this development.
Deputy Chairman of the Lebanese Forces Party, Representative George Adwan, said after the session of the joint parliamentary committees: “Although we have been asking the government for months to do everything necessary to hold municipal elections and disburse money from special drawing rights, all the promises and positions that we heard from it turned out to be non-existent. And it was clear that the government did not take any serious step to hold the municipal elections.
Adwan said, “Our position from the beginning is clear, which is that we will not attend the general assembly in the House of Representatives to legislate any matter, whatever its content, before electing a president of the republic, and therefore we will not attend legislative sessions to extend the current municipal councils.”
For his part, member of the “Democratic Gathering” bloc, Representative Hadi Abu Al-Hassan, indicated that “the approach to the entitlement to municipal and elective elections requires clarity and high responsibility.” This is the main issue, because if there is conviction, decision, and consensus, then all obstacles will be overcome and the process of facilitating its conduct will be completed.
Lebanon
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In conclusion, it seems that holding municipal elections in Lebanon next month is an unlikely scenario due to the lack of funding and logistical difficulties. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab has proposed extending the mandate of local councils and mayors for an additional four months. This proposal will be discussed in a meeting called by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The Lebanese government has been criticized for not taking serious steps towards holding these elections. As the situation in Lebanon remains unstable, it is imperative that the government works towards resolving these issues and carrying out fair and transparent elections.