Is the extension of parliament’s term constitutional?

ENAR

On May 31, Lebanon’s parliament agreed to a 17-month extension of its own mandate. The decision was clearly unpopular with some Lebanese — as MPs were on their way to vote, demonstrators threw tomatoes at their vehicles. Soon after the extension was passed, President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun declared they would appeal to the Constitutional Council as they thought the extension was unconstitutional. But are they correct? The dispute largely revolves around one of two main reasons given for extending the mandate — that Lebanon is in crisis. The country is currently faced by sporadic violence in the second city of Tripoli, as well as along the border with Syria. Parliamentarians argued that the situation constituted a force majeure, or extraordinary circumstances, thus making the suspension justified. Rabih Kays, professor of law at Sagesse University, agrees that there could be legal justification for the