Unless there is a sudden and major development in internal or external political positions before May 25, Lebanon will have a presidential vacancy for the third time in its modern history. Repeated attempts to hold a parliamentary session to elect a new president have failed. The term of the current president, Michel Suleiman, expires at midnight on May 24. After leaving the presidential palace, he will be the first Lebanese president to not have directly received the presidency from his predecessor or to have handed it to his successor. Suleiman was elected president on May 25, 2008, after a presidential vacancy that started on Nov. 24, 2007. When he leaves the presidency this weekend, he likely will be leaving a similar presidential vacancy of unknown duration.
It can be said that the Lebanese political system has become used to presidential vacancies and has adapted to them, especially in light of the constitutional amendments approved by the Taif Agreement in Saudi Arabia in 1989. The Taif Agreement made the presidency a secondary post within a quasi-parliamentary system whereby all constitutional institutions can largely continue to function in the absence of a president.
The Lebanese Constitution stipulates that if the presidency becomes vacant, the powers of the president are conveyed to the council of ministers. Note that the presidential powers themselves are not decisive and cannot stop the work of the system. The president can attend meetings of and preside over the council of ministers, but he doesn’t decide its agenda nor vote on its decisions. If he opposes a cabinet decision, he may only request that it be reviewed. If the council of ministers insists on that decision, it will go into effect two weeks after it was approved, whether or not the president agrees.
The same applies to parliament. The constitution gave the president the power to only publish the laws passed by parliament, and if he opposes a law, he may also return it to parliament for reconsideration. Yet, if a parliamentary majority insists on the law, it takes effect in one month at the most, whether or not the president agrees.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
