Hasan Nasrallah, referring to next year's parliamentary elections now scheduled for May, pledges to form a consensus government if the opposition wins. In other words, he is merely pledging to do what is normally done in Lebanon. The period from the fall of 2006 to July 2008 was an aberation owing to external pressure, esp. from the U.S. Lebanese governments typically operate by virtue of consensus.
I would not be surprised to see the elections postponed until the end of the summer in order to capitalize on the tourism season.
The parliament is beginning to address the election law for next year.
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Hasan Nasrallah had also advocated for a president elected by the people during the parliamentary stalemate. I thought it would have been an appropriate, democratic solution but the 'majority in parliament' would not agree to lose by allowing the people to go to the polls.
Consensus has been the way a government is organized in Lebanon. I do not favor it because it eliminates the idea of a government subject to the scrutiny of members of parliament. Not to mention that most of those appointed in the cabinet represent MPs if they are not MPs themselves. How will parliament scrutinize the cabinet and assess its performance if all what is happening is the creation of a miniature body labeled ‘government’ on the proportional representation of each ethnic group and za’im.
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