BEIRUT: Parliament will meet Friday to extend its mandate by around 17 months with a large majority, overriding objections by President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who have vowed to challenge the move.

 

However, the separate petitions planned by Sleiman and Aoun to challenge a draft law to extend Parliament’s four-year term, which expires on June 20, stand no chance of success because of the legislation’s high level of support in the 128-member legislature, legal experts said.

 

The challenge petitions will be submitted to the 10-member Constitutional Council.

 

Issam Suleiman, the head of the council, refused to comment on the likelihood that the petitions would be accepted. “I don’t want to comment on anything relating to the challenge petition or the draft law to extend Parliament’s mandate,” Suleiman told The Daily Star.

 

Under the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the Civil War, the Constitutional Council was tasked to “interpret the Constitution, observe the constitutionality of the laws, and settle disputes and contests emanating from presidential and parliamentary elections.”

 

“The president is determined to file a challenge against the extension of Parliament’s mandate if it exceeds six months,” a source at Baabda Palace told The Daily Star.

 

Sleiman has said it would be better to hold the parliamentary elections under a new law or even under the controversial 1960 Law rather than extend Parliament’s mandate.

 

Baabda MP Alain Aoun, from Michel Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, said his bloc would boycott the Parliament session and file a petition to challenge the extension draft law.

 

“We will boycott the Parliament session and we will present a petition challenging the extension measure,” Aoun told The Daily Star.

 

Asked about the propsects for seeing the council rule in favor of the two expected challenges, Aoun said that “in order for the Constitutional Council to maintain its credibility and protect the Constitution and laws, it must accept the challenge petition.”

 

“Any other decision will be a political decision, rather than a constitutional decision,” he added.

 

In a radio interview, Aoun said: “There is a big chance for the challenge to pass if the Constitutional Council does not fall victim to a political deal in this country.”

 

Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said the chances of the challenge petitions overruling the extension draft law hinged largely on the duration of the extension and the number of MPs supporting it.

 

“First, it depends on the duration of the prolongation of Parliament’s mandate. If the extension is for more than six months, then this is a political rather than technical extension,” Najjar told The Daily Star.

 

“Second, it depends on the majority that will vote for such an extension. If only 70 to 80 MPs vote for the extension draft law, this will be a sign of conflict. In this case, the Constitutional Council will [likely] declare the extension draft law null and void,” he said.

 

“But if more than 100 MPs vote for the extension bill, it will be difficult for the Constitutional Council to declare it null and void because it will have been approved as a kind of consensus,” Najjar said.

 

He added that the extension would be considered “void” unless it is accompanied by the lawmakers’ commitment to devise a new electoral law within a specified period.

 

During a meeting chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday, members of Parliament’s Secretariat agreed that the extension of the legislature’s term would be the sole item on the agenda for Friday’s session.

 

Berri has cited the deteriorating security situation in the country as the primary reason for seeking the extension of Parliament’s mandate.

 

In addition to their failure to reach agreement on a new electoral law to replace the 1960 system, March 8 and March 14 lawmakers have said the extension of Parliament’s term was essential given the unstable security situation as a result of political and sectarian tensions stoked by the split over the more than 2-year-old civil war in Syria.

 

A 17-month period was the most likely outcome for the duration of the extension, political sources said.

 

While the March 14 coalition wanted a 15-month extension, Berri, backed by Hezbollah and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, favored an 18-month period.

 

Caretaker State Minister Nicolas Fattoush, who last week presented Parliament with a draft law to extend the legislature’s term for two years until June 20, 2015, said he was confident that the Constitutional Council would turn down the challenge petitions in view of the unstable security situation, which would prevent holding the elections.

 

“I can confirm that based on security conditions, the Constitutional Council will reject the challenge petition if it is presented by the president or Aoun,” As-Safir newspaper quoted Fattoush as saying.

 

Batroun MP Antoine Zahra, from the Lebanese Forces, said he expected Parliament’s mandate to be extended for 17 months.

 

“All the blocs are inclined to vote for the extension, except the Free Patriotic Movement,” he told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

 

Beirut Future MP Ammar Houri, from the Future Movement, said his bloc had wanted the elections to be held on time but was compelled to accept the extension of Parliament’s term.

 

“We have chosen the lesser of two evils by supporting the extension with a view to reaching a new electoral law that will ensure a rotation of power,” Houri told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

 

Streets leading to the Parliament building on Nijmeh Square, including Banks Street, will be closed to traffic from noon, three hours ahead of the session, according to a statement issued by the Internal Security Forces.