“It is as ‘Daddy and Mommy’ that we are preparing to buy your clothes.” With this status update, Kholoud Darwish announced via Facebook that she is expecting her first child with husband Nidal.
This fruit of the first-ever civil marriage in Lebanon may be born whilst his/her parents are still waiting for Interior Minister Marwan Charbel to document their union, thus raising questions as to the registration of this baby and whether there is hope for the parents to obtain a family civil record extract before s/he is born so the baby’s name could be on it.
Minister Charbel told NOW that he sent a letter to the Higher Consultations Committee ten days ago, asking for clarifications regarding some ambiguous points, most importantly the fact that the French general (under the French mandate in Lebanon) allowed civil marriages but failed to explain how to document them. Minister Charbel said: “I am waiting for the committee’s response; [depending on this] I shall make the appropriate decision so that it is not subsequently contested.”
When asked how the baby would be registered if he does not sign the marriage contract, Minister Charbel answered: “Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish had a religious marriage so they can have the baby registered. In any case, I am waiting for the Consultations Committee’s response before making the appropriate decision.”
In turn, Justice Minister Chakib Qortbawi told NOW that Minister Charbel sent many questions that the Committee is now examining, adding that should the Minister of the Interior abstain from registering the marriage, it is up to the couple to decide whether to undertake legal action, arguing that the Interior minister’s decision contravenes the law. Minister Qortbawi asserted that the atmosphere within the committee is clear and that it will respond to Charbel’s questions next week.
Talal Husseini, the author of the study on civil marriage, asserted once again that Kholoud’s and Nidal’s marriage is legal and that there shall be no legal issue when the child is born; rather, he said, the Interior Minister’s refusal to register the marriage will expose him to accountability in parliament or before the Council of Ministers for failing to perform his duties.
With the country occupied by electoral laws and with the fate of the elections pending between postponement or cancellation, will the first ever civil marriage in Lebanon be lost in the Ministry of the Interior’s files? Or will Nidal and Kholoud manage to get a family civil record extract issued bearing a third name that will soon become the first ‘civil’ baby ever in Lebanon?
