LEBANON: Lovin’ a man in uniform
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Is a solution for Lebanon’s political crisis finally on the horizon?
Today Lebanon’s feuding political factions came closer to an agreement over electing the country’s army commander as president, bringing hope for an end to a week-long presidential vacuum and an alleviation of political tension in the country.
Key opposition figures said that they supported the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman to Lebanon’s top post, a day after members in the ruling majority announced their readiness to vote for the army chief and amend the constitution to that effect.
President Emile Lahoud stepped down last week, leaving the country in a fragile void after parliament failed to convene and elect his successor. Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government took over the president’s powers. The opposition, supported by Iran and Syria, tacitly accepted the move but warned it regarded the government as illegitimate.
A scheduled session for the election of a new head of state is expected to be postponed for the sixth time on Friday to give time for finalizing the agreement.
Suleiman, who was able to preserve the army’s neutrality amid deep political divisions, is a popular figure praised by the country’s various political factions. His election requires, however, an amendment in the legal system, which bars senior public servants from running for the presidency.
‘I support Suleiman and I will be very happy to see him as President,’ said the opposition’s presidential candidate, Michel Aoun, who agreed to withdraw his candidacy once legal impediments were removed for the election of Suleiman. The president has to be Maronite Christian under Lebanon’s system of power-sharing.
Blogger Helena Cobban at Just World News wonders whether a deal between Damascus and Riyadh led to Suleiman’s emergence as presidential front-runner.
Suleiman has been one of the candidates favored by Syria. For me, this immediately raises the question of whether there was a Saudi-brokered deal that involved the Syrians sending a (not high-level) representative to Annapolis, and them then getting a presidential candidate in Lebanon with whom they feel they can live?
The parliamentary majority said that it was looking into ways to modify the law after rejecting such a move in the past. ‘The majority supports the election of Suleiman as a compromise candidate,’ said lawmaker Nabil De Freige, a member of the March 14 ruling majority. ‘If they reject our offer then they would be thwarting the last effort for an agreement.’
Still, it remains to be seen if the two sides are serious or posturing for a public increasingly angered by their politicians. Many of the pro-March 14 rank and file harbor doubts about Suleiman. Lebanonesque expresses that skepticism.
This blogger is not necessarily anti-Suleiman though Suleiman’s Syrian-sponsored appointment as army chief years ago is a huge question mark, as is the fact that his sister lives in Damascus.
The opposition has also remained skeptical and accused the pro-government forces of political maneuvering.
‘We still don’t think that the majority is serious about its offer,’ said lawmaker Ayoub Hmayed of Amal, a Syrian-backed Shiite opposition group. ‘They have the power. Let them propose a constitutional amendment and we will see.’
— Raed Rafei in Beirut