Parliament convened twice on Tuesday to ratify the new Constitutional Council law and elect members of parliamentary committees. The law on the Constitutional Council, which is one of the pillars of the Lebanese judicial system, was approved as recommended by both Parliament”s Administration and Justice Committee and Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar.
The new law, which was ratified during an afternoon session, introduced a major amendment, restricting lawmakers” ability to nominate candidates for the council. The former law allowed any five MPs to have their own candidate.
No amendments were made regarding the age requirement for candidacy to the council, as Parliament decided to keep the age range between 50 and 74 years old, despite the objection of some legislators who argued against imposing an age ceiling.
Parliament also maintained the privilege of choosing 10 of the council”s members from among honorary judges or academic professors who have taught at least one law course.
The Constitutional Council is often referred to as Lebanon”s "supreme court" and yet, at present, it is effectively paralyzed as the court was controversially dissolved in 2005 and reforms were delayed by the country”s political deadlock.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri after the session, told reporters that the real challenge was electing the members of the Constitutional Council, thus allowing it to operate as soon as possible.
Najjar, who also met with Berri, said that the new council should be kept away from "political interference."
An earlier session was held at noon and witnessed the re-election of incumbent members of parliamentary committees, with the exception of lawmakers who were assigned a ministerial post in the current government.
MP Ali Khreis replaced Industry Minister Ghazi Zeaiter on the Administration and Justice Committee. Zeaiter was also replaced by lawmaker Ayoub Homayed on the National Defense Committee.
MP Ghassan Tueni replaced Education Minister Bahia Hariri on the Foreign Affairs Committee and MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Mohammad al-Amin Itani also replaced Hariri and Minister of State Wael Abu Faour on the Higher Education and Culture Committee.
Hariri was also replaced by lawmaker Camille Khoury on the Women and Children”s Rights Committee.
Khreis and Abu Faour were replaced by Khoury and Hamadeh on the Tourism and Agriculture Committee.
MP Akram Chehayeb also replaced Abu Faour on the Youth and Sports Committee.