Berri puts off vote on president for ninth time Hizbullah: Election is linked with a comprehensive basket of solution
Source: Daily Star, 18-12-2007
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a parliamentary session to elect a new Lebanese president for the ninth time on Monday, setting Saturday as the next chance to fill the office vacated at midnight on November 23 by Emile Lahoud. In all, 102 MPs came to Parliament Monday, many of them arriving as early as 10 a.m. for the noon session.
The speaker's consultations included talks with opposition Reform and Change bloc MPs Ibrahim Kanaan, Neamatallah Abi Nasr and Shamel Mozaya. Berri then met with representatives of the ruling March 14 coalition: first Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt, then parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri. Berri also met MPs of his own Liberation and Development bloc as well as other deputies from both camps.
Change and Reform MP Michel Murr said that only "minor obstacles" remain to achieving consensus, specifically agreement on the number of ministers each bloc gets in Cabinet. According to him, the majority has agreed to several points in Change and Reform leader MP Michel Aoun's initiative, while Aoun has dropped two conditions.
"Berri spoke to [Aoun] who agreed to remove two conditions from his initiative; one concerns the presidency the other concerns the length of the president's term," Murr said.
"There are several points in [Aoun's] initiative around which agreement has been reached, among these are the new electoral law and the Constitutional Council," Murr said.
Kanaan told The Daily Star no progress has been made, adding that the majority had reneged on points already agreed on concerning the electoral law and its commitment to a national unity government.
"There has been no agreement on a constitutional mechanism to amend the Constitution. In fact there were suggestions to bypass an amendment to Article 49 of the Constitution and to go ahead with a vote immediately," Kanaan said.
Article 49 bars grade-one civil servants from the presidency, including General Michel Suleiman, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the leading consensus candidate.
"The speaker told me that he stressed to Hariri the need to negotiate with General Aoun and that no concessions can be made before they meet and talk with [Aoun]," Kanaan said, adding that politicians should not be overly optimistic in their statements. "We hope by Saturday we reach agreement and reach solutions that do not violate the Constitution," he added, stressing that for that to happen the majority has to talk with Aoun.
"The [election] is linked with a comprehensive basket of conditions," Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told reporters. "These conditions include amending the Constitution, defining the shape of the next government, distributing Cabinet appointments, determining how many ministers each bloc gets, as well as agreeing on the identity of next army commander."
He said that without reaching a "comprehensive understanding" between rival camps the opposition will not ensure a quorum is reached in Parliament. "It all depends on ['March (Feb.) 14'] ... They ought to accept and adhere to political agreements and present us with unambiguous guarantees. If they don't we will consider they are merely maneuvering to eventually renege on agreements with us later."
'March (Feb.) 14' MP Nayla Mouawad told reporters Monday at Parliament that the Lebanese were promised a parliamentary session Monday to elect Suleiman, but she accused the opposition of rejecting solutions because of its regional alliances.
"We must elect Suleiman without any preconditions," she argued. "We call on [opposition] MPs to meet in Parliament and respect the amendment process and respect the powers of the president and not tie his hands."
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a parliamentary session to elect a new Lebanese president for the ninth time on Monday, setting Saturday as the next chance to fill the office vacated at midnight on November 23 by Emile Lahoud. In all, 102 MPs came to Parliament Monday, many of them arriving as early as 10 a.m. for the noon session.
The speaker's consultations included talks with opposition Reform and Change bloc MPs Ibrahim Kanaan, Neamatallah Abi Nasr and Shamel Mozaya. Berri then met with representatives of the ruling March 14 coalition: first Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt, then parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri. Berri also met MPs of his own Liberation and Development bloc as well as other deputies from both camps.
Change and Reform MP Michel Murr said that only "minor obstacles" remain to achieving consensus, specifically agreement on the number of ministers each bloc gets in Cabinet. According to him, the majority has agreed to several points in Change and Reform leader MP Michel Aoun's initiative, while Aoun has dropped two conditions.
"Berri spoke to [Aoun] who agreed to remove two conditions from his initiative; one concerns the presidency the other concerns the length of the president's term," Murr said.
"There are several points in [Aoun's] initiative around which agreement has been reached, among these are the new electoral law and the Constitutional Council," Murr said.
Kanaan told The Daily Star no progress has been made, adding that the majority had reneged on points already agreed on concerning the electoral law and its commitment to a national unity government.
"There has been no agreement on a constitutional mechanism to amend the Constitution. In fact there were suggestions to bypass an amendment to Article 49 of the Constitution and to go ahead with a vote immediately," Kanaan said.
Article 49 bars grade-one civil servants from the presidency, including General Michel Suleiman, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the leading consensus candidate.
"The speaker told me that he stressed to Hariri the need to negotiate with General Aoun and that no concessions can be made before they meet and talk with [Aoun]," Kanaan said, adding that politicians should not be overly optimistic in their statements. "We hope by Saturday we reach agreement and reach solutions that do not violate the Constitution," he added, stressing that for that to happen the majority has to talk with Aoun.
"The [election] is linked with a comprehensive basket of conditions," Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told reporters. "These conditions include amending the Constitution, defining the shape of the next government, distributing Cabinet appointments, determining how many ministers each bloc gets, as well as agreeing on the identity of next army commander."
He said that without reaching a "comprehensive understanding" between rival camps the opposition will not ensure a quorum is reached in Parliament. "It all depends on ['March (Feb.) 14'] ... They ought to accept and adhere to political agreements and present us with unambiguous guarantees. If they don't we will consider they are merely maneuvering to eventually renege on agreements with us later."
'March (Feb.) 14' MP Nayla Mouawad told reporters Monday at Parliament that the Lebanese were promised a parliamentary session Monday to elect Suleiman, but she accused the opposition of rejecting solutions because of its regional alliances.
"We must elect Suleiman without any preconditions," she argued. "We call on [opposition] MPs to meet in Parliament and respect the amendment process and respect the powers of the president and not tie his hands."
