The new term of the Parliament of 2022 has commenced, bringing with it many questions, speculations, analyses, and expectations, particularly from the new deputies entering the Parliament for the first time. These discussions are centered around the first significant event awaiting the legislative council, which is the session to elect the President of the Parliament, Vice President, and members of the Parliament's Bureau, as well as the heads and members of the committees.
According to Article 44 of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 2 of the Parliament's internal regulations, the procedure for the session is determined, especially regarding that the oldest member presides over calling the session. Since the oldest member in the new council is Speaker Nabih Berri, the only candidate for the presidency of the council, this session will mark a precedent that has never been seen before in this regard.
In light of this, and to give the 51 new deputies a chance to familiarize themselves with the Constitution and internal regulations, Berri is delaying the call for the session, possibly until next week, as he has a 15-day period from the start of the new council's term, as stipulated by the internal regulations. This delay provides him the opportunity to consult with various political forces, blocs, and deputies to prepare for the session while avoiding the tensions, speeches, and high-stakes positions that have expressed opposition to Berri's election, who is the sole candidate backed by the Shiite duo, with the prevailing custom that the presidency of the Parliament is reserved for the Shiite community.
Despite attempts to contain the tense positions and cool the "hot heads," as Berri himself put it, many questions, hypotheses, and issues arise from this precedent in Lebanon's history and Parliament, including: Will Berri accept the presidency of the Parliament with a weak vote count, given that the assured count so far is about 60 votes without "the Free Patriotic Movement"? Notably, the required quorum for the session is 65 deputies, and winning requires an absolute majority in the first round; otherwise, a second or third round may be necessary, where he would win with a relative majority—that is the crux of the current situation.
This hypothesis leads to an issue that Berri, as the oldest member, can remain in that position as long as he does not achieve a majority in the sessions for electing the President of the Parliament. Consequently, what could happen if the specified 15-day period for calling the election session is surpassed? And similarly, even if another person from the opposition to Berri were to preside?
Former Minister and constitutional law expert Ziad Baroud states that "the invitation from the oldest member to the session is a constitutional obligation, and the discretion occurs within the 15-day period. This obligation is related to the functioning of the parent constitutional institution, which could be obstructed by not determining the session and completing its management through the election of the President, Vice President, and members of the Parliament's Bureau."
Baroud, in a special interview with "Nidaa Al-Watan," believes that "the 15-day period is a period of urging and not a period with penal consequences, meaning that the text calls for a session to be set within 15 days, but if the period passes, it does not mean that a session cannot be called since the objective is to elect the President of the Parliament and not to lapse into a vacuum that could disrupt the council's work. It is preferable to set the session within the 15 days, as the goal is to ensure the orderly functioning of the Parliament."
He adds that "in comparison, the Constitution clearly sets a time frame for the election of the President of the Republic during the two months preceding the end of the term, just as it sets a time frame for convening the Parliament for this purpose at least ten days before the end of the term. Despite this, these deadlines have been exceeded practically for months and years for political reasons, lasting approximately two years and five months from 2014 to 2016."
While awaiting the communications, meetings, and gatherings that will take place in the coming hours and days, it should be remembered that the oldest member, Berri, will announce the results of the elections during the session when it convenes, and he will nominate the three oldest deputies and then the two youngest deputies to serve as temporary secretaries to assist him in the session.
After that, the articles related to electing the President of the Parliament and the members of the Parliament’s Bureau will be read. Envelopes and papers will be distributed to the deputies to elect the President through a secret ballot. Any ballot that does not carry the name of a deputy in Parliament will be considered void.
According to available data and information, the youngest deputies in the 2022 Parliament are Michel Moawad and Ahmad Rustom.
