2 Lebanese Cabinet Members Resign Over Vote Decision
Two Christian Cabinet members resigned Wednesday to protest the government’s decision to allow Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections in 20 years to proceed.
Their resignations came after the Cabinet at large voted not to interrupt the elections even though pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim fundamentalists made major gains Sunday in the first stage of the three-stage elections.
The Christians fear that holding elections before the withdrawal of Syria’s 40,000 troops from Lebanon would lead to a Parliament favorable to Syrian President Hafez Assad’s government.
The resignation of Foreign Minister Faris Bouez and George Saadeh, the post and telecommunications minister, created an imbalance in the Cabinet, which had been divided evenly between Christians and Muslims.
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