Parliament's Extraordinary Session Submerges State in New Controversy

Complications rose on the possibility of opening an extraordinary session for Parliament due to the bickering of blocs over the ongoing presidential vacuum and the absence of urgent draft-laws.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper on Friday that “a wide spectrum of Christian MPs are convinced that there is no necessity to open an extraordinary session for the parliament before the election of a new head of state.”

Makari expressed belief that there is an “essential need to allow the parliament to convene as the interests of the people can not remain unresolved.”

“An extraordinary session should be opened,” the official stressed, casting doubt on a unanimous agreement at the cabinet, which assumed the president’s prerogatives, over the matter.

The government has been stuck in a limbo after President Michel Suleiman's tenure ended in May as any decree requires the agreement of the rival ministers to be approved.

Parliament has been unable to legislate over the boycott of several blocs after Suleiman's term ended.

The parliamentary paralysis is greatly linked to the presidential deadlock.

The majority of the March 8 alliance's MPs have been causing a lack of quorum in sessions aimed at electing a president, leaving the country without a head of state.

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