Zeina Abu Rizk
Daily Star staff

In the wake of the Metn by-elections, it is still unclear what direction the results will bring the country, while attempts are currently under way to work out a judicial exit strategy from the prevailing status quo ­ sparked by a series of legal errors committed in recent days.
But in any case, a final solution is likely to take several days before being brought to the fore, as all options remain on the table.
If no conclusion is immediately forthcoming, the issue is expected to be ironed out once and for all during Cabinet’s session next week.
But Friday’s polemic focused on the difficulty to once and for all proclaim a decision concerning the elections results, with Gabriel Murr as the battle’s “political” winner and Myrna Murr as the “legal” victor, according to official sources.
Meanwhile, as appears to be the case in Damascus, local authorities seem determined to avoid further turmoil.
The country’s top leaders favored the proclamation of the “political” winner, considering this to be the only way out of a dangerous deadlock.
The sources explained that, as submitted to the Interior Ministry last Tuesday, the Higher Vote Counting Committee’s report presented Myrna Murr as the official winner.
Regardless of whether or not this committee had previously informed Metn MP Nassib Lahoud that his candidate, Gabriel Murr, was the actual winner ­ as Lahoud has maintained in recent days ­ the committee’s final report, which is irrevocable unless challenged, came in favor of Myrna Murr.
Subsequently, and in accordance with the law, Interior Minister Elias Murr had no prerogatives to modify this decision himself, even after finding an inconsistency in counting ballots in the Qaaqour polling station.
His role as a minister was to announce the committee’s final decision, leaving the door open for challenges before the Constitutional Council at a later date.
Therefore, even if the authorities appeared inclined Friday to go along with proclaiming a final decision in favor of the “political” winner, a judicial obstacle has thus far prevented them from doing so.
The Higher Vote Counting Committee is not entitled by law to issue a new decision contradicting its previous report which is considered final, and ballot counting errors can only be referred to the Constitutional Council and settled through a challenge.
To end this judicial deadlock, a judicial way out is needed, which is currently being examined by the relevant authorities.
A political source familiar with the issue said one way to break the vicious circle could be to consider that Elias Murr’s news conference did not cons-
titute an official proclamation of Gabriel Murr’s victory.
In his news conference, Murr remained evasive, saying that with the mistake found in the Qaaqour polling station, the final results would be to Gabriel Murr’s advantage.
In the absence of an official announcement of the elections’ winner, the Higher Vote Counting Committee is authorized to modify its report, which is only considered final once proclaimed irrevocably by the minister.
In addition to the judicial difficulty that has surfaced following Elias Murr’s news conference, a series of previous judicial mistakes had reportedly been committed.
According to the opposition, judge Nora Majdalani, who presided over one of the four sub-committees in charge of the vote counting process, was not entitled to cancel a whole polling station ­ the Hemalay polling station ­ on the basis of irregularities found in one or several ballots.
Only these specific votes should have been cancelled, opposition members have argued.
But the authorities have maintained Majdalani asked for the cancellation of the entire polling station due to several errors, adding that her decision had not been contested even by the candidates’ delegates present in the sub-committee.
The authorities claim that regardless of whether or not Majdalani’s move was legal, the Higher Vote Counting Committee presided over by judge Elias Abu Nassif had no authority to contradict Majdalani’s decision and consider valid a polling station that had been eliminated by one of its sub-committees.
Therefore, and even if Abu Nassif had verbally ­ or officially ­ announced to Nassib Lahoud the victory of Gabriel Murr, the move of the higher committee’s president could not be considered legal.
Amid all these contradictions, the end game in the Metn by-elections remains uncertain.
But whoever prevails in the end will inevitably spark a challenge from the other side, one which could reverse the situation even after an official proclamation of the Metn results.

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