By Najia Houssari -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: The Lebanese Interior Ministry is planning to hold parliamentary elections on March 27, 2022, which is nearly six weeks before the end of the current parliament’s mandate. However, the final date for the elections has not been confirmed yet, which has added to the uncertainty many Lebanese people have felt toward their government — or lack of — for the past two years. Holding elections in March would shorten the legal deadlines required while potentially postponing the elections to April would conflict with Ramadan. “The political class is trying to flee from holding elections in the current circumstances,” election expert Walid Fakhr El-Din said. “The evidence is that we have entered the legal deadlines, yet the required dates have not yet been set. There is no time to amend the law, which, in practice, means the elections will be postponed.”

A similar run-out-the-clock scenario also played out in 2016, he said, which extended the parliament’s tenure. “There is whispering behind the scenes, among the political class, that the parliamentary elections may be postponed until after the presidential elections, which are scheduled for next October.” Observers of the electoral preparations also believe the ruling political class has no intention of including expatriates in the vote.

النظامُ يَخرجُ من المجتمعِ إلى الدستورِ وليس العكس. وإحدى مشاكلِ لبنان الدستوريّةِ هي أنّنا وَضعْنا دستورًا ثابتًا لنظامٍ قابلِ التأويل ولمجتمعٍ قيدَ التكوين. وجاء تَطوّرُ المجتمعِ صادِمًا مضمونَ الدستورِ، فانفَجر النظامُ اللبنانيُّ. ولأنّنا لم نُعالِجِ التباساتِ النظامِ انفَجَر لبنانُ أيضًا. رغم ذلك، لا يزال البعضُ يتعالى على الاعترافِ بالأمراضِ التاريخيّة، ويَتجاهَلُ الوقائعَ الجديدة. نَعيشُ في رفضِ لبنانَ القائمِ والخوفِ من لبنانَ القادم. مئةُ سنةٍ كافيةٌ لاختبارِ مكامنِ النجاحِ والفشل، والثقةِ والولاء. ربّما بَكَّرْنا في اللقاءِ وتَأخَّرنا في الطلاق. هذه هي الإشكاليّةُ التي تُعاني منها دولةُ لبنان فتَدفعُ ثمنَ الشَهواتِ القاتلة.

البعضُ يعيش كأنَّ دستورَيِّ "الطائف" وما قَبلَه هما الأمثل، في حين أنَّ دستورَ 1943، الذي ارتاحَ إليه المسيحّون، أزْعجَ السُنّة، ودستورَ "الطائف" الذي أغْبَطَ السُنّةَ أغاظَ الشيعةَ وغيرهَم، والاثْنين أحْنَقا الدروز، والنظامَ كَكُلٍّ أثارَ الأجيالَ الجديدةَ التائقةَ إلى العَلمَنة. هكذا، أصبَحنا شعبًا من دونِ دستورٍ ودستورًا من دون شعب. والنتيجةُ أنّنا نعيشُ اليومَ خارجَ الدستورِ والنظام، وانْقطَعت العلاقةُ بين الدولةِ والمجتمع، حتى مع الفئاتِ التي تؤيّدُ الدستورَ والنظامَ والدولة. الـمُعتَدون على الدولةِ ظلّوا أعداءَها، وحُماتُها صُدِموا بخيانتِها ذاتَها وإيّاهم. نحن اللبنانيّين "نَنتخبُ" رؤساءَ جمهوريّةٍ وحكوماتٍ ومجلسِ نوّابٍ ونوابًا ورؤساءَ بلديّاتٍ ومختارين، ولا نَنتخِبُ مرّةً "أيَّ لبنانَ نريد".

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of Lebanese, including families of Beirut port explosion victims, rallied Wednesday in the capital to support the judge investigating the blast after he was forced to suspend his work. The suspension was triggered by a legal challenge submitted by a former Cabinet minister, who is a defendant in the case. A court must now rule on whether he should be removed or can continue the investigation. Several lawmakers and former officials charged in the case by Bitar have filed lawsuits against him, asking that he step down on grounds of violating the law or showing bias. More than a year after the blast that devastated the city and killed more than 200 people, there are no answers to what caused highly explosive materials stored in the port for years to ignite on Aug. 4, 2020, or why they had been stored there.

An investigation by rights groups and local media revealed that most of Lebanon’s senior leadership and security agencies knew of the nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate and did little to protect residents of Beirut against it. But over the past year, senior politicians have closed ranks in their efforts to block the probe. On Wednesday, the French government said it regrets the suspension of the investigation. “Lebanese justice must work transparently, sheltered from all political interference," French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters in Paris. "It is up to the Lebanese authorities to allow the probe to continue with all the necessary financial and human resources so it can shed light on what happened on Aug. 4 and meet the legitimate expectations of the Lebanese people.”

by arabnews.com — LONDON: New Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi reiterated on Monday his desire to restrict press freedoms, saying the media …