Kouchner back in Beirut to clinch agreement on Suleiman presidency

 

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Lebanon late Tuesday to help seal a deal between rival political factions and pave the way for Parliament”s election of the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, to the presidency.

 

Upon arriving in Lebanon, Kouchner held a one-hour meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri, leaving without making a comment to the press. Kouchner then met with parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri in Koreitem and later went to Rabieh, where he met MP Michel Aoun, head of the opposition Reform and Change bloc. Kouchner is due to meet Premier Fouad Siniora Wednesday.

 

A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Kouchner would stay in Lebanon “as long as is useful” to facilitate talks over a new president and achieve “broad support” for the next head of state.

 

The parliamentary majority insists on postponing any discussions on the shape of the next government until after a president is elected. Members of the ruling coalition said Tuesday that Aoun”s “unworkable conditions” outlined in his “Memorandum of Christian Principles and Basics” on Monday constitute new obstacles to consensus.

 

Former President Amin Gemayel, speaking to reporters Tuesday, criticized the “new complications” that have emerged which are hampering the election of a new president.

 

“We regret that despite the considerable steps [the ruling coalition] has taken forward … there are those who drag us back to the starting line by setting  unworkable conditions which do not facilitate a solution,” Gemayel said, referring to Aoun. He stressed that the ruling coalition had taken those steps for the sake of reaching a solution, not to concede to the opposition.

 

Telecommunications Minister and majority MP Marwan Hamadeh said Aoun”s pronouncements from Rabieh Monday veered off the course of consensus. Hamadeh told The Daily Star that Aoun is trying to lead the country “down another path contrary to the Taif Accord and the Constitution.”

 

Aoun”s “immediate demands” include the passing of an election law that ensures fair representation and the redressing of a Christian “imbalance” in government jobs.

 

“I do not think [Aoun] will be able to prevent an agreement from being reached for long,” Hamadeh said. “[Aoun] should be dealt with by his own allies. We have nothing to give him.”

 

Hamadeh added that a newly elected president should be allowed to “play his role.”

 

“One of a president”s powers is forming the government. It is the one real time that the president has a major role to play. To impede that role is to bring a handcuffed president to power. We do not want this and we feel the Lebanese do not want this either,” Hamadeh said. He added that the ruling coalition does not want to “renegotiate” Taif or the Constitution “with anybody, especially those who have been against it.”

 

Aoun”s demands were discussed during a ministerial meeting at the Grand Serail late Tuesday. The participants in the meeting stressed that the ruling coalition will not debate any issue with the opposition before the presidential election.
 

In an interview with NBN television on Tuesday, Aoun said the points he had raised in his memorandum did not violate the Constitution or the Taif Accord. He added that the demands are aimed at redressing the imbalances that have resulted from the poor application of the Taif Accord.

 

Aoun”s office issued a statement on Tuesday denying recent media reports that disputes over Cabinet appointments and other government posts are blocking an agreement between the ruling coalition and the opposition.

 

“This issue may pose a problem for some political parties, but this is not the solution as far as the Reform and Change bloc is concerned. The main issue for us is achieving the national demands asked for in [Aoun”s] initiative, which will restore some of the Christians” rights,” the statement said.

 

The statement said that a presidential election cannot be held until a political agreement between the ruling coalition and the opposition is reached. It added that this position is not aimed against the next president, whomever he may be.

 

Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea met with MP Robert Ghanem in Maarab on Tuesday to discuss ways to amend the Constitution. Ghanem said Parliament”s Administration and Justice Committee, which he heads, had studied the proposed amendment and concluded that constitutional mechanisms allow for its passage, but what is required is political agreement.

 

“This … requires agreement among all national partners. There are some who consider the Cabinet illegitimate and unconstitutional … We also require a quorum of two-thirds in Parliament to ratify the draft. Therefore consensus is compulsory,” Ghanem said.

 

The MP said the proposed amendment was ready and would be presented to Berri on Wednesday. “Maybe [Berri] has certain observations or opinions to express or other solutions to offer and we will discuss it with him until we arrive at a result we can adopt,” Ghanem told reporters. Asked if Friday”s session of Parliament to elect a president will go ahead as scheduled, Ghanem said: “We will see in the next 24 hours.”

 

Suleiman met Geagea in Maarab late Monday night to discuss the situation in the country. Geagea commended the army commander for the measures taken by the army to preserve security at this sensitive juncture.

 

Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir chaired the monthly meeting of the Council of Maronite Bishops at Bkirki. Sfeir also discussed the latest developments and the presidential election with Papal Nuncio Luigi Gatti, and Spanish Ambassador Miguel Benzo.

 

Also on Tuesday, Berri received Russian Ambassador Sergey Bukin at the speaker”s residence in Ain al-Tineh. Bukin had no comment to make after their talks.

 

For his part, Hariri hosted talks with the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Geir Pedersen, as well as former MP Tammam Salam.

 

Picture: Lebanese deputy and head of the parliamentary majority Saad Hariri (L) shakes hands with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Beirut. Kouchner held talks with Lebanon”s feuding political leaders Tuesday in his latest drive to spur them to elect a new president and overcome a lingering crisis.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)