Cabinet Crisis, Postponement of Parliament Session Threaten to Paralyze State Institutions
A second possible postponement of a parliamentary session for the election of legislative committees threatens to create a scenario similar to the 2008 presidential void that lasted around seven months.
An Nahar daily said Tuesday that political circles have expressed fears over a return to a similar situation amid an ongoing cabinet crisis.
They said repeated expressions of optimism on the possible formation of a government followed by escalation indicate there are attempts by some politicians to play the game of paralyzing the functions of state institutions.
It took around seven months for parliament to convene and elect Michel Suleiman as president in May 2008.
The country had been without a president since November 2007, when Emile Lahoud”s term ended and parliamentarians could not agree on a candidate to replace him. Scheduled parliamentary elections were repeatedly cancelled as party officials argued over who was best fit for the job and what shape the government should take once the new president was in place.
Meanwhile, al-Liwaa daily also expected a postponement of the parliamentary session, saying Speaker Nabih Berri would set a date for another session following lack of quorum on Tuesday.
The newspaper quoted parliamentary sources as saying that Berri is not comfortable with procrastination and that he would continue to set dates for the session after agreement was reached for the majority to keep its share of nine committees and the opposition seven.