November 30 Session Could Be Postponed, Talks In The Making For Sleiman As President
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11/28/2007
The parliament session set on November 30 to elect a new president will probably be postponed one more time. This is what a political source told Reuters. This news comes after Future Movement MP Ammar Houry told Al Arabiya channel that the Future bloc has agreed to have the constitution amended in order to allow for the election of Army Chief commander Michel Suleiman as the new head of state. Also note that Democratic Left member MP Elias Attalah told AFP that consultations are presently ongoing to study the possibility of Sleiman being elected.
The days leading up to the fifth parliament session to elect a new president have been characterised by slow, but meaningful, political activity. Reform and Change Bloc MP Michel Murr stressed the need to fill the presidential post come what may. After holding talks with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the Grand serail yesterday, Murr said there will be a session on Friday but said he does not know whether a president will be elected. Murr praised Siniora for calling to elect a new president the soonest possible and showed an indirect acknowledgment of the latter's government by saying that his son is part of that government. Murr vowed there won't be any subversive action on the street connected with the elections. The head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, after receiving Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ahmad Baddawi yesterday, stressed the need to elect a new president as soon as possible. Geagea warned against the danger of a power vacuum, and called on the parliamentary blocs to attend parliament on Friday and vote. Geagea added that all solutions are open for discussion. The Head of the Lebanese Forces also received a Maronite League delegation as well as French Charge D'Affaires, Andre Parran, who said it is unlikey that French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner return to Beirut any time soon. Meanwhile, the Head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt called for the election of a new president who, in his words, is able to handle the present crisis. In an chat with reporters, Jumblatt said electing a president now is better than a power vacuum and the the issues of contention could be discussed later. On Annapolis, Jumblatt hoped that Lebanon would not be used as a bargaining chip in, what he called, the Syrian American bazaar. Asked whether he had changed his previous stances, Jumblatt said he is not ashamed of adopting a conciliatory approach, because in his words, the Lebanese people are afraid, and the opposition must take this fear seriously. For his part General Michel Aoun ended his three days of back-to-back consultations with Christian leaders in Rabieh. Yesterday he met with former MP Fares Boueiz. Following the talks, Aoun said he will reveal the whole truth to the Lebanese people. For his part Boueiz stressed that the constitutional void coincides with the Annapolis summit. He echoed calls for the Lebanese to elect a president as soon as possible. Boueiz said the Lebanese must trust the next head of state with safeguarding their rights. Aoun finally warned the ruling coalition that if no settlement to the looming presidential crisis is reached soon, the opposition will resort to quote 'different means to change the situation.' In what appeared to be a veiled reference to Aoun's warning, US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said taking to the streets will not solve the crisis and stressed dialogue was the only way to end the deadlock. Following talks with former president Amine Gemayel, Feltman insisted that a political void was politically unacceptable. The US diplomat hailed former President Emile Lahoud for stepping down as head of state as stipulated by the constitution. Feltman said the move reflected what he called a hopeful sign of Lebanon's vibrant democracy. But he slammed those parties that are hampering efforts to reach a consensus. |
