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After Postponement of Presidential Elections, Majority Hints at Resorting to Half-Plus-One Vote |
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Written by Naharnet - AFP
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Hours after a parliamentary session to elect a new president was put off again for an eighth time, leaders of the ruling March 14 coalition hinted at resorting to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one.
MP Wael Abu Faour said after meeting Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir Turesday morning: "We do not rule out any possibility, be it elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one or not."
Abu Faour was part of a delegation dispatched by Druze leader Walid Jumblat that included Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh.
Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat also told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Tuesday that March 14 "did not at all abandon the half-plus-one option."
"This is a constitutional alternative," Fatfat stressed.
MP Saad Hariri also did not rule out the possibility that March 14 might resort to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one.
An overnight statement issued by Berri's office said presidential elections were postponed till next Monday, Dec. 17.
The postponement was necessary "in order to allow for more consultation to agree on the election of a new president for the country," the terse statement said.
The decision marked the eighth time a session in parliament to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud has been postponed since he stepped down on November 23 with the ruling majority and the Hizbullah-led opposition unable to agree on a candidate to succeed him.
The statement by Berri's office came minutes after MPs from the ruling coalition announced a boycott of Tuesday's session amid refusal by the opposition to amend the constitution to allow the army chief to be elected president.
"The March 14 parliamentary majority believes that (Tuesday's) parliamentary session will not produce anything but further undermine the credibility of the democratic process," the statement said.
"The parliamentary session scheduled to take place December 11 must be devoted to amending the constitution to elect a president for the country.
"In the absence of this, the deputies of the March 14 majority will not go to parliament to express their rejection of any attempt to violate the constitution," the statement added.
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