“Lebanon Municipal Councils and Local Officials Mandate Extension: Latest News”

2023-04-18 14:53:49

Lebanon’s parliament on Tuesday decided to extend the mandate of municipal councils and other local officials, delaying elections and averting further political paralysis in the country. A country still suffering from a stifling economic crisis.

On the other hand, and in line with the results of the decision, the Legislative Council proposed an “expedited, repeated law aimed at the technical extension of municipal and elective councils,” provided that their term ends “at the latest until the date of 31/5/2024“.

Lebanese state institutions are already suffering from a power vacuum, and the country has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun’s term in October. 2022 No agreement on who will replace him.

Meanwhile, the current caretaker government operates with limited powers.

Municipal and elective council elections were scheduled to be held in May, but the state has not yet been able to secure the necessary funding, according to the caretaker interior minister, Bassam Mawlawi.

Lawmakers had even approved a “technical extension”. 31 May 2024 to municipal councils and local officials engaged in the issuance of basic civil documents, arguing that this would at least protect once morest the emptying of one state institution by another.

For his part, MP Bilal Abdullah asked following the vote, denouncing whether the state was supposed to suffer more paralysis.

Some members of Parliament, including the Lebanese Forces party, boycotted the vote, saying that elections are a right.

In this context, others questioned the parliament’s ability to pass any legislation, arguing that the constitution stipulates that a president must be elected first before working on laws.

The current parliament consisting of 128 Member in May 2022 in the first elections since the country’s economy began to collapse in 2019 and a devastating explosion hit the port of Beirut the following year.

Lawmakers have held repeated sessions to elect a new president in the past months, but no candidate has been able to secure a majority.

The Lebanese economy was paralyzed by the collapse of its currency, which lost regarding 98 percent of its value once morest the US dollar a year ago 2019which led to a catastrophic rise in inflation rates to double digits and pushed many people into poverty.

France 24/Archyde.com

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