March 14 Mps Propose Constitutional Amendment against Naturalisation
11 MP”s from the March 14 coalition proposed on Wednesday a single-article constitutional amendment to forbid naturalisation of Palestinians or concession of any Lebanese territory. They MP”s proposed that the amendment be introduced into article 79 of the constitution.
MPs Boutros Harb, Nayla Mouawad, Farid Makari, Antoine Zahra, Michel Faraoun, Solange Gemayel, Atef Majdalani, Ghazi Youssef, Serge Torsarkissian, Ammar Houri, and Akram Chehayeb put their names to the draft law.
The MPs said that the reasons for the amendment were threats endangering Lebanon’s future and unity, including the danger of naturalisation of the Palestinians. “Since the Lebanese stance is united over refusing any naturalisation of the Palestinians or concession of any part of Lebanese territory, the signatory MPs decided to nationally work on concluding the issue and remove it from bidding, accusations and political disputes,” the proposal said.
The MPs also called for “putting a clear end for any dispute that serves the Israeli enemy which will make use of it to facilitate the process of naturalisation of the Palestinians.”
The details of the proposal read, “the MPs decided to work for the adoption of a constitutional amendment which finally forbids any possibility of naturalisation of the Palestinians, through adding a new article to article 79 of the constitution which states that unanimity is needed to amend article (i) of the introduction of the constitution, concerning Lebanon’s partition or acceptance of naturalisation of the Palestinians of amending or to amend article 2 of the constitution. This practically forbids any amendment to allow naturalisation of the Palestinians or concession of Lebanese land.”