Between the constitution and consensus, how does President Salam lead the government’s march peacefully?

When Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam took over as Prime Minister, it was known that he came for a specific period to hold parliamentary elections, draft an electoral law, and elect a new president for the republic. The parliamentary elections were cancelled and the council renewed itself without the favor of the voters or the trouble of drafting an electoral law. President Michel Suleiman’s term ended and Lebanon sank into a vacuum, as the parliament has not succeeded in electing a new president for nearly ten months. With the division of the parliament and the absence of the president, the government has become the only authority active in running the affairs of the people and the vital affairs of the country. However, because we are in a country where most of the authorities are suspended, disabled, and out of service, it was natural for the government to be paralyzed, disrupting its movement.

The Lebanese Constitution, in its sixty-fifth article, stipulates that the decisions of the Council of Ministers are taken by consensus, and if that is not possible, then by half plus one in ordinary decisions, while important and financial decisions related to the National Charter are taken by a two-thirds majority.

Since this government assumed the powers of the acting President of the Republic, it adopted the consensus mechanism for all decisions, so each minister had the right to veto. If a single minister announced his rejection of any decision, this decision would be frozen.

Since we live in a country where everything is divided, consensus had to exist in the government, like a midsummer night's dream, a mirage, or ice that quickly melts to reveal the depth of the abyss of disagreements and divisions. Thus, over time, government work became paralyzed. Prime Minister Tammam Salam tried, with his wisdom, patience, prudence, and sobriety, to keep the waves of ministerial disagreements away from his government. However, the inevitable happened, and every decision consumed long hours of back-and-forth, only to end up in the bin of oblivion, because it did not receive consensus.

The experience of consensus in a country divided against itself in all areas becomes impossible, so how can we ask Prime Minister Salam to lead the government’s work process among the ministerial mines in peace?

Returning to what the constitution stipulates may be the only way out for life to return and peace to Prime Minister Salam's government.