Aoun also tweeted that he supports calling a cabinet session even if it is boycotted. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun claimed in a tweet Tuesday to “have changed the date of the [upcoming parliamentary] elections to May 2022.” Parliament in October voted in favor of amending the electoral law to hold the polls on March 27 — a date the president and the political party he founded, the Free Patriotic Movement, have vocally opposed.
Here’s what we know:
• Aoun’s comments come a day after Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, whose signature alongside Aoun’s and Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s is mandatory on the decree that schedules the elections’ date, said that Aoun had told him “personally, multiple times, that he will not sign the decree that would effectively schedule the upcoming parliamentary elections in March.” This decree must be signed three months in advance of the election date, meaning that if it is not signed by Dec. 27, the vote cannot go ahead on March 27.
• In October, Parliament approved a law that included a recommendation to bring the voting day forward from May 8 to March 27. Supporters of the recommended date argue that it would avoid the issue of campaigning during Ramadan, when many muslims fast from sunrise to sunset; however, those who oppose the date argue that the stormy weather in March may impact voters’ ability to get to polling stations, affecting the outcome of the ballot. The FPM and Aoun also argue that holding elections on March 27 would exclude many voters who will have not reached the legal age for voting by that date. Legal experts told L’Orient Today on Monday that Parliament can only recommend a new date but does not have the authority to schedule it.
• Aoun also tweeted that in a meeting with the syndicate for editors of press journalists in Lebanon, he said, “I agree with scheduling a cabinet session even if it is boycotted,” referring to the fact the cabinet has not met since October.
• The government led by Mikati has not met since its session on Oct. 12 was adjourned over a threat by Amal- and Hezbollah-affiliated ministers to walk out if the government did not take a stance on Bitar’s leadership of the port blast investigation. Amal and Hezbollah argue that Bitar has "politicized" the investigation.