CIt had been more than two years since he had tasted the joy of a hot shower. Or even that of a mattress to lie on. “I finally slept well without anyone rushing me when I woke up to put my things away,” smiles Melhem Khalaf, who used to spend the night on the sofa in an annex of the Assembly, without electricity or heating, before resuming, alone, his place in the hemicycle in the early morning. After 721 days and nights spent camping in the Lebanese Parliament, the 63-year-old MP was finally able to return to his home in Achrafieh, a Maronite Christian neighborhood in east Beirut, with the feeling of duty accomplished.
This unexpected outcome, the parliamentarian owes it to the surprise election, on January 9, to the presidency of the Republic of the commander in chief of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, after two years of vacancy at the head of power. “This is very good news, a new page that is opening for our country,” responded Melhem Khalaf in an interview with Point. “The new president's inauguration speech presents a vision for the country aimed at restoring the rule of law. »
Obstruction you Hezbollah
If he refuses to reveal the nature of his vote, carried out by secret ballot, the deputy from Beirut, elected in 2022 on the list of Forces for Change, recalls that he has always advocated respect for the Constitution. In the event of a vacancy in the presidency, deputies are required to meet immediately in Parliament to elect a head of state, until the name of the new president is known. However, when Michel Aoun's mandate expires on October 30, 2022, this rule is not respected and Parliament finds itself paralyzed.
ALSO READ Lebanon desperately seeks president On twelve occasions, when the elected officials gather, the members of the pro-Hezbollah bloc stand up as one man and leave the chamber in order to prevent the election in the second round of a president who does not suit them. Due to lack of quorum, the session is adjourned without a head of state being elected. “The problem in Lebanon is that political arrangements have always been more important than the Constitution,” regrets the rebellious MP. Since 1992, the traditional confessional political class has been more interested in power sharing than in the Lebanese population, who found themselves neglected. »
Melhem Khalaf “the idealist”
In the midst of an economic crisis, the absence of a president is all the more detrimental to Lebanon as it prevents the formation of a new government, essential to carry out the profound political and economic reforms necessary for the release of international financial aid. Faced with the urgency of the situation, Melhem Khalaf begins on January 19, 2023, with MP Najat Aoun [sans lien de parenté avec le nouveau président, NDLR]a sit-in in Parliament to demand the election of a head of state. “We have only assumed our responsibility before our Constitution, our conscience and before our voters,” underlines the elected official, from civil society, whose colleague will put an end to his action 243 days later for reasons of health.
ALSO READ How Hezbollah cannibalizes the state in Lebanon Unprecedented, the initiative does not, however, attract any followers among the other deputies, who see the rebellious at best as an idealist, at worst as an enlightened person. “Melhem Khalaf is a man of great integrity, close to the people, with deep knowledge of the field, who implemented the principles to which he is attached by organizing this initiative which will go down in History,” confides a Lebanese diplomat under the cover anonymity. “The problem is that within Parliament he found himself in a nest of vipers who were stronger than him and had a different interpretation of the Constitution. »
Weakening of Hezbollah
In the absence of a strong state in Lebanon, the country remains under the control of confessional parties which govern their community. And, in this subtle game inherited from the civil war (1975-1990), Hezbollah, the only militia converted into a political party to have retained its weapons in the name of the fight against Israel, reigns supreme.
Determined to elect its candidate, Sleiman Frangié, a close friend of former President Bashar el-Assad aligned with his interests, the “Party of God” is procrastinating within Parliament, with the help of its Shiite ally Amal, who is totally insensitive. to Melhem Khalaf's solitaire number. This feeling of omnipotence, however, will prove fatal to him.
ALSO READ Israel-Hezbollah: the other war that is igniting the Middle EastOn October 8, 2023, the MP learned from the Assembly that Hezbollah had taken, alone, the decision to open a limited military front against the north of the Hebrew state, in the hope of diverting the Israeli war effort. from Gaza. An initiative which ended up turning against the Islamist movement.
A year later, when the Gazan front had lost intensity, the IDF launched a surprise operation against Hezbollah which decapitated its staff and decimated its military capabilities. “The weakening of Hezbollah and the force it represents has undoubtedly led it to be more flexible in the negotiations on the Lebanese presidential election,” confides a senior Western diplomat on condition of anonymity.
“Politics of consuls”
Following the ceasefire concluded on November 27 between Israel and Lebanon, a new date – January 9, 2025 – was set by the President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, to elect a president. On the eve of the vote, the American envoys Amos Hochstein, Saudi Yazid ben Farhane and French Jean-Yves Le Drian went to Beirut to put all their weight behind the deputies in favor of Joseph Aoun's candidacy. The same day, Sleiman Frangié will announce the withdrawal of his candidacy in favor of the commander-in-chief of the army.
ALSO READ Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Iran: Trump’s new Middle East advisor reveals his vision at “Point” “It is a policy of consuls carried out by great foreign powers who put pressure on the deputies so that they elect a president”, denounces today Melhem Khalaf, who remains concerned about the sovereignty of Lebanon.
“Twenty-four hours before the vote, instructions were given to elected officials even though all the suffering of the Lebanese people had not made them move. » The thirteenth attempt at the presidential election will be the right one. In the second round of voting, organized last Thursday in the hemicycle, the pro-Hezbollah parliamentarians this time remained seated on their files, allowing the election of Joseph Aoun with 99 votes out of a total of 128 seats.
All smiles, a suitcase in his hand and a scarf from the Land of Cedar around his neck, Melhem Khalaf has finally taken leave of the national representation, after almost two years of living there. And the man said, in a final burst of laughter: “721 days is nothing in the life of a country! »
