WORLD : Lebanon Reforms Split Powers
President Elias Hrawi today signed constitutional reforms to give Muslims an equal share of power with the long-dominant Christians in a bid to resolve Lebanon’s civil war.
Hrawi’s move is designed to set in motion a peace plan stalled by opposition from Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, the Christian army commander. There was no immediate response from Aoun, whose dwindling force of about 15,000 troops holds pockets of land in East Beirut and the nearby mountains.
The reforms signed by Hrawi vest executive powers in Lebanon’s Council of Ministers, stripping the president of the exclusive right to implement major decisions. The Cabinet and Parliament will now contain equal numbers of Muslims and Christians, eliminating the 6-to-5 edge the Christians held in both bodies. However, a formula of having a Maronite Christian president, a Sunni Muslim prime minister and a Shiite Muslim Parliament Speaker will remain.
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