Lebanon announces first round of parliamentary elections
With Syria’s nearly three decades of military involvement in Lebanon over, Lebanon today shifted its attention inward, announcing the first round of parliamentary elections would be held May 29, two days before the deadline.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had cautioned Lebanon on Tuesday that delaying the polls could destabilise the country.
“I can confirm to the Lebanese and the world that the elections will take place starting from May 29,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told a news conference shortly before the legislature convened to grant a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new government.
However, parliament must confirm Mikati’s government and debate and approve an election bill before the elections can be held.
The anti-Syrian Lebanese opposition and the US have been increasing pressure to hold elections before parliament’s current mandate expires May 31.
The opposition, which is trying to uproot Syrian power in Lebanon, believes it will win the polls.
Annan, in a report released on Tuesday on compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which demanded a full Syrian military withdrawal, cautioned Lebanon against delaying parliamentary elections.
“Such a delay would contribute to further exacerbating the political divisions in Lebanon and threaten the security, stability and prosperity of the country,” Annan said in the report.
He lamented that Lebanon’s government still hasn’t created a law by which the elections would be conducted. He said he was discussing with Lebanese leaders the possibility of UN technical assistance and encouraged Lebanon to ask for international observers to monitor the election.
Mikati earlier said he planned to send the legislature a proposal to hold elections within the constitutional deadline. If Parliament does not approve the outline, he said his Cabinet will call a May 29 election on its own.
On Tuesday afternoon, in a quiet end to its once indomitable 29-year military presence, Syria’s last soldier in Lebanon crossed the border to be welcomed home with cheers and flowers after a modest farewell from the Lebanese.
Annan has dispatched a UN team to verify Syria’s complete withdrawal.
The Syrian withdrawal would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. But Damascus came under relentless international pressure that intensified after the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The US in particular is keeping up demands for a complete end to Syria’s influence.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called the withdrawal “a welcome development” and an important first step toward Syria’s compliance with UN Security Council.
But he said there were “lingering concerns” that Syria had not withdrawn all its intelligence agents. He said the Bush administration was looking to the report by a UN team sent to verify the withdrawal.
Annan’s report noted progress but said Damascus still hasn’t met several other provisions of Resolution 1559. Annan said there had been no movement in other areas, including the requirement that militias be disarmed – a clear reference to the Syrian- and Iranian-backed guerrilla group Hezbollah.
Syria still wields influence here. President Emile Lahoud is a staunch Syrian ally, Mikati is a close friend of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the current parliament is dominated by pro-Syrians.
