Recent political decisions have stirred debate in Lebanon over the constitutionality of these moves.
Earlier this year, Foreign Minister and head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil ordered ministers from his party to sign written resignations and submit them to him for approval. Last week, Hezbollah suspended one of its MPs for a year following a verbal dispute with another lawmaker at parliament.
These two measures have set a precedent in Lebanon with some observers saying that they aim to keep party ministers and lawmakers in check and accountable for their actions. Others have deemed them as illegal and unconstitutional because the party leaderships have effectively confiscated the voice of a minister or deputy, who is supposed to become, after his election, a representative of the nation, not the party.
MP Alain Aoun, of the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc, criticized the way in which the announcement of the resignation order was made, but still defended the move.
“Such a decision aims to motivate ministers to work seriously and to make achievements at their ministries, not to confiscate their decision-making power.”
However, opponents of the move believe the decision allows Bassil to use mass resignations as a weapon to control the fate of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government.
As for Hezbollah, it ordered last week the suspension of MP Nawwaf al-Mousawi’s political activities following a row at parliament between the MP and Kataeb lawmaker Sami Gemayel during government policy deliberations at parliament two weeks ago.
Gemayel said that Hezbollah's wide influence was seen when it got its ally, Michel Aoun, elected president in 2016.
Mousawi responded by saying "it's an honor" for the Lebanese that Aoun came to his post alongside "the rifle of the resistance," a reference to Hezbollah, and "not on an Israeli tank."
His last reference was to late President-elect Bashir Gemayel who was assassinated in 1982 days after being elected during Israel's invasion of Lebanon.
Two days later, the head of Hezbollah's bloc in parliament, Mohammed Raad, apologized during a meeting of the legislature saying that Mousawi "crossed lines."
The FPM and Hezbollah measures clearly violate the law, said former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar.
By law, the government, prime minister and president have a final say over a resignation, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Item 2 of Article 69 of the Constitution stipulates that a minister shall be dismissed by a decree signed by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister after the approval of two-thirds of the Council ministers, he added.
“The resignations have more of a political effect than a legal one,” he went on to say.
Commenting on Mousawi’s suspension, Najjar said after his election, an MP becomes a representative of the nation, not a certain party and therefore, he should not stop attending parliamentary sessions.
However, he remarked, the failure of any deputy to attend parliament is not punishable by law.
