“The Future Movement will not take part in the legislative session because the reasons behind our boycott in the past four sessions are still present,” Future MP Mohammad Hajjar told Al-Jadeed television channel Sunday.

“Everyone knows we object to two issues, the first is that Parliament should not legislate under a caretaker Cabinet unless there is something urgent and the second is that we cannot find anything important or urgent on the agenda set by Speaker Nabih Berri,” he said.

Speaker Nabih Berri had called for three consecutive legislative sessions from Monday to Wednesday with 45 draft laws listed on the agenda.
For his part, Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun told a local radio station that his group’s stance over the Parliament sessions is still the same.

“The Change and Reform bloc will not take part in Monday’s Parliament session called for by Speaker Nabih Berri because nothing has changed since the last session,” said Aoun.

In August, Parliament failed to convene for a fourth time in just over a month due to lack of quorum, prompting Berri to postpone the legislative session yet again.

In the last four delayed sessions the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and March 14 MPs, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati all boycotted the meeting.

Many boycotting parties argue that under a resigned government Parliament can only convene to discuss urgent issues, not the lengthy agenda of items which the session is scheduled to address.

SHI/SHI