MPs stage Parliament sit-in for second day to demand new president

Lebanese MPs on Friday continued their sit-in inside Parliament for the second consecutive day in Beirut to protest the failure of the presidential elections.

On Thursday, MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Saliba began an open sit-in inside the Parliament hall to pressure to hold more sessions to elect a president, according to their statement at a press conference.

According to Anadolu Agency, on Friday, 12 MPs joined the sit-in, including independents and others produced by the 17 October, 2019, revolution, who call themselves “changers”.

The new members to join the sit-in, according to Anadolu Agency, are: Halima Kaaqour, Paula Yacoubian, Waddah al-Sadiq, Ibrahim Mneimneh, Elias Hanaksh, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Bizri, Yassin Yassin, Firas Hamdan, Osama Saad, Adeeb Abd Al-Masih, Cynthia Zarazir and Nabil Badr.

Lebanon fails again to elect new president amid political deadlock – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

She added: “After 11 sessions to elect a president, we were leaving Parliament with a very bad feeling because the most dominant party in Parliament are the authority’s parties, and we are a minority and could not make any change in this deadlock by not electing the president.”

Kaaqour pointed out that the sit-in inside Parliament is: “Practically an application of what the Constitution says, which states that a permanent session of Parliament should be held until a new president is elected.”

“But we were confronted with an escalation by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who did not call for a session as usual next Thursday, but rather called for a session of parliamentary committees,” she noted.

According to Kaaqour: “The step aims to reach a solution to elect a president as soon as possible. It is a message to the street urging them to join the sit-in to move towards electing a president.”

She also indicated: “The sit-in inside Parliament continues because it has received a positive response from the various groups of people across all of Lebanon. This step encourages citizens to take back their role of putting pressure on the political authority in the country to restore the regularity of the work of state institutions.”

As for MP Paula Yacoubian, she called for: “Gathering in front of the House of Representatives, at 15:00 on Friday, Beirut time, 13:00 (GMT).”

Yacoubian published a video of her inside Parliament in a tweet and wrote: “MPs for change will remain in Parliament despite the blackout!”

Since Thursday, the Parliament police have not allowed journalists and photographers to get close, according to Anadolu Agency.

READ: Lebanese parliament fails to elect president for 11th time

For his part, MP Waddah Al-Sadiq published a video of him from inside Parliament, commenting: “Our presence inside Parliament is not a sit-in. Our presence is the implementation of the Constitution.”

On Thursday, Parliament failed for the 11th time since last September to elect the president of the republic to succeed Michel Aoun, whose term ended on 31 October, 2022.

Due to the lack of a quorum for the second round of the session, Berri left the hall without setting a new date for electing a president.

According to Article 49 of the Constitution: “The president of the republic shall be elected by secret ballot and by a two-thirds majority of the Chamber of Deputies. After a first ballot, an absolute majority shall be sufficient.”