The Parliamentary Bureau held on Wednesday a session in Ain
al-Tineh, in the absence of deputy Speaker Farid Makari. The session aimed at
finding a solution for the issue of the extension of the Parliament’s mandate.
Sources reported that the extension is expected to be for 15
or 18 months, noting that it will receive around 105 votes, representing the
approval of all the political parties except that of the Free Patriotic
Movement.
Deputies' positions:
MP Marwan Hamade stressed that the term of
extension will be determined during Friday’s General Authority session, noting
that this is the only item that will be discussed.
For his part, member of the Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat told
LBCI that the security tensions are a major factor leading the call for the extendsion of
the Parliament’s mandate. “Should the elections be held according to the 1960 law,
the term of the Parliament would be extended for four years,” he added.
In turn, MP Serge Torsarkissian declared that the extension
term will be less than 18 months, noting that the elections will be held
during the summer of 2014.
This as Lebanese Forces MP Antoine
Zahra considered that the “biggest crime is to surrender to the 1960 electoral
law.”
Following the session, the Wednesday periodic meeting was held in the absence of Change and Reform Bloc MP Alain Aoun.
In
this regard, MP Aoun said that there is no decision to boycott the
Wednesday periodic meeting and considered that extending the
parliament’s mandate is related to the Syrian crisis and does not aim at
ratifying a new electoral law.
For his part, Loyalty to the
Resistance Bloc MP Ali Fayyad told LBCI that Hezbollah’s stance
regarding the extension of the Parliament’s mandate will not affect its
relation with the Free Patriotic Movement, pointing out that “this
coalition is steady and solid”.
Fayyad added that following the
extension of the parliament’s mandate new data pertaining to the
formation of the cabinet will be discussed, reiterating Hezbollah’s
rejection to the 8-8-8 cabinet formula. [8 ministers for March 8, 8
ministers for March 14, and 8 independent ministers]
For the full report, please click on the VIDEO above.