Suleiman Calls for Constitutional Review without Amendment of Power Distribution under Taef
President Michel Suleiman”s speech during Saturday”s National Army Day is expected to invite mixed reactions after he called for a review of constitutional loopholes that impede the democratic process, the press said Sunday.
The Lebanese daily An Nahar said that Suleiman has been preparing to launch a campaign for the reassessment of the Constitution since before the June 7 parliamentary polls.
According to sources, the president”s calls "were not set off by the present situation, including the stumbling process to form a government. Rather, they derive from the need to launch a workshop that could take years and exceed the current (presidential) term."
Informed sources told the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily that Suleiman did not intend, by proposing to a review of some ambiguities in the Constitution, "to carry out any form of amendment to the distribution of power as prescribed by the Taef Accord."
Suleiman "is seeking to ensure a balance of powers," the sources said. They highlighted the fact that the president called for the implementation of the rest of Taef provisions and considered the accord a guarantee for everybody.
He also demanded the execution of what had been agreed on at the 2006 national dialogue conference, including: the disarmament of Palestinians outside the camps while controlling arms inside of them, the demarcation of the border with Syria in the Shebaa Farms and resolving the issue of detainees in Syrian prisons.
Other sources told al-Hayat that Suleiman”s speech represented a "group of ideas that made the address more of a presidential pledge, since he will propose they be included in Hariri”s ministerial statement."
"As such, Suleiman took the presidency to a new level of initiative in light of increasing calls for such a role, driven either by the need for him to play a balancing role during times of political crises or to bolster the Christian role in power," observers told al-Hayat.