Outraged protesters demand cancellation of discussion on General Amnesty Law
The Lebanese Parliament has postponed for an indefinite period its scheduled November 19 session, which was to include discussion on the General Amnesty Law. The session had to be canceled after outraged protesters attempted to prevent legislators from entering the parliament building, resulting in lack of a quorum.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered Tuesday morning near the Lebanese Parliament, at Star Square in downtown Beirut, to protest the legislative session, which they consider unimportant as long as the government ignores their demands. To block the legislative session, protesters closed all the entrances to the building and tried to prevent convoys carrying MPs from entering parliament.
Nada Nassef, a Lebanese protester who spoke to The Media Line while demonstrating in front of the parliament, said that the parliament had lost its legitimacy because of the people demonstrating in the streets: “This council wants to pass ‘dirty’ laws, such as the General Amnesty Law, which includes amnesty for financial and environmental crimes. Serious crimes will be exempted if the law passes.”
Nassef pointed out that the government was trying to take advantage of the fact that criminals are imprisoned for years without trial. The attempt to pass the General Amnesty Law misleads the masses, betting on their fatigue. “Moreover, there are attempts to promote rumors and incite demonstrators against each other, while in a few other areas, protesters are being beaten,” she said.
She explained that veteran politicians were calling for a “techno-political” cabinet – one that includes both technocrats and politicians – while the protesters demanded an entirely technocratic government with new people who were independent of all political parties. “Otherwise, we are not leaving the streets. It’s pretty simple,” she said.
Moreover, Nassef stressed that the new government must have legislative powers so that it can pass laws that strengthen the independence of the judiciary, an election law that allows for the holding of early parliamentary elections, and a looted-money recovery act.
“The postponement of the parliamentary session is a positive move to ease the state of tension in Lebanon; the country is in an abnormal state. Therefore, it’s better to move toward the option of forming a new government,” Qassem Qasser, a Lebanese writer and political analyst, told The Media Line.
However, Qasser said that the government had delayed the parliamentary consultations that are required before someone is assigned the task to form a new government. This was because there was no agreement on the nature of the next government “due to internal political differences. There are several views and unfortunately no agreement, so the date of the parliamentary consultations has been postponed,” he said.
He said that the Lebanese Constitution doesn’t set a specific time by which the president must hold these parliamentary consultations. Instead, if the government resigns, the president decides when to hold these parliamentary consultations.
“The people demand a technocratic government, while the political powers in the country see that such government doesn’t meet or serve the current Lebanese political challenges,” Qasser said.
Mass demonstrations in Lebanon began on October 17 to protest government corruption, mismanagement, sectarianism, and foreign influence, and in response to a proposed tax on use of the WhatsApp messaging platform. The government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, facing massive criticism, resigned on October 29.
Adnane Daher, secretary-general of the parliament, said: “The quorum was not complete, and the legislative session was postponed to a date to be determined. After consultation among members of the Bureau of the Council, it was decided to keep the current parliamentary committees in place.”
Despite the protesters’ attempts to block their arrival, some Lebanese MPs managed to reach the parliament. Others announced their refusal to attend and declared a boycott of council meetings.
“Some MPs boycotted the session, while others feared attending the session as they knew that the people would hold them accountable later. At the end of the day, Lebanese protesters managed to overthrow the whole government,” Rabee Damaj, a Lebanese journalist and analyst said to The Media Line.
Damaj said the government was using the General Amnesty Law against the revolution, based on the idea that if they release criminals who ought not be walking around free, this will benefit officials and MPs. “The government is neglecting priorities and focusing on a law that isn’t currently a priority or important for Lebanon.”
Damaj pointed out that most of the imprisoned criminals are Islamists from Tripoli. If the General Amnesty Law passes, they will be forgiven for all of their terrorist acts, especially those who were involved in the Lebanese civil war, “despite opposition to the law by the families of these criminals.”
Tensions have escalated sharply among demonstrators in Lebanon over the past week, sparked by President Michel Aoun’s “arrogant” statements during a TV interview and the killing a protester who was shot by the army in the town of Khalde, just south of Beirut.
The protests have paralyzed the country, closing nearly all institutions, both public and private. In the wake of rising opposition, a large army presence was deployed along the main road to the presidential palace.