At last, Lebanese factions reach agreement
Beirut (AsiaNews) - On Sunday, general Michel Suleiman will be elected president of Lebanon: this is the first point of the agreement announced in Doha by the Lebanese political groups, on the sixth day of their meeting in the capital of Qatar to find a way out of the political crisis. The election of Suleiman will be followed by the formation of a new government, in which the minority will have 11 ministers, and therefore a "blocking minority" - or the possibility of vetoing any government decision. A new electoral law will also be issued.
The announcement of the agreement was made this morning. It was formalised during the closing ceremony of the mediation meeting. In Beirut, the people went out into the streets to celebrate.
From a political point of view, if the immediate election of the head of state is what the parliamentary majority wanted, the minority led by Hezbollah has obtained its main objective, that of blocking any government decision it doesn't like. In this perspective, it is unlikely that life will be easy for the international tribunal planned by the UN to judge those responsible for the political assassinations committed in Lebanon over the past few years, beginning with that of the former head of the government, Rafik Hariri. The court is supposed to be established at the beginning of 2009, and to begin its work the following year. Syria - which together with Iran is one of Hezbollah's supporters - is very nervous about the court, fearing that some of the country's highest officials could be accused, and so obstructing or trivialising the investigation appears to many as one of the main objectives of the opposition.
Another controversial point is the electoral law, which will be modified along the guidelines of the law of 1960, to be reinstituted provisionally. This will lead, in particular, to the division of Beirut - the stronghold of the majority Sunni party of Saad Hariri - into three districts. The point of greatest disagreement among the parties, the new law must allow more representation for the various sectarian groups (Sunni, Shiite, Christian, and Armenian), but how to do this is the object of reciprocal accusations and polemics.
Naturally, the initial comments are positive. Prime minister Fouad Siniora emphasises that "we cannot have a future without domestic unity", and the leader of the majority, Saad Hariri, affirms that he is "always ready to make concessions for the sake of coexistence, and to turn a new page of reconciliation". For the head of the Lebanese armed forces, Samir Geagea, "the accord was the best we could come up with", while the Hezbollah member of parliament Mohammed Raad speaks of "high hopes for the Doha Accord which will rescue us from this crisis. No one in the world can cure our wounds if we don’t cooperate with one another". From the same front of the opposition, Michel Aoun maintains that "the accord is not ideal for any of the parties; I hope that safeguards are put in place for decent relations between the majority in the opposition".
For his part, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says that "this is an essential step in the complete restoration of unity, stability, and independence to Lebanon". His Syrian counterpart, Walid al Moallem, has also spoken of the "importance of the agreement", adding that he hopes that "this is a prelude to the resolution of the political crisis in Lebanon". Support for the agreement has also been expressed by Iran and Saudi Arabia.
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