Nasrallah: No Elections Unless Opposition Gets Veto Power

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared that there will be no President in Lebanon unless the opposition gets veto power in the future government and warned that the anti-government camp would take decisive measures within 10 days if mediation efforts fail.

 

Nasrallah accused the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority of creating the current presidential deadlock by refusing a partnership with the Syrian-backed opposition.

 

It “wants to fully control authority and rejects partnership with the other party … A veto power means that the opposition becomes a partner (in the future government),” Nasrallah said in a recorded interview aired

Wednesday night on the private Lebanese NBN TV network.

 

“A solution lies in a partnership through a constitutional guarantee (and) through a veto power for the opposition, which represents more than half of the Lebanese people,” Nasrallah said.

 

The interview was aired simultaneously by Hizbullah”s Al-Manar television.

 

Nasrallah said that France”s mediation with Syria on Lebanon”s political crisis would go on despite the two countries breaking off contacts over the issue.

 

He said that “France”s mediation has not finished, despite President Nicolas Sarkozy inappropriately raising the tone” of the talks by officially halting contacts with Syria.

 

But Nasrallah warned that the opposition would take “decisive measures” within 10 days if mediation efforts fail.

“The French and the Syrians are attempting to arrive at a compromise … but if this mediation fails, there will not be others, and the opposition will mobilize using all peaceful means possible,” he said without providing further details.

 

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem announced on Wednesday that Syria was breaking off contacts with France on the political crisis in Lebanon, responding to a similar gesture by Paris three days ago.

 

Muallem said Syria had been surprised by Sarkozy”s announcement on Sunday that France was cutting contacts, as it came just two days after Damascus had reached agreement with Paris on a comprehensive deal to end the crisis.

 

Sarkozy accused Syria on Sunday of failing to match its words about wanting a settlement to the crisis in Lebanon with deeds on the ground.

 

Nasrallah said Hizbullah supported Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman for president to replace Emile Lahoud, whose term ended on Nov. 23 without a successor being chosen.

 

But Suleiman”s election “will not solve the problem without a national unity government in which the opposition gets a veto power,” he said.

 

A parliamentary session to elect a new president was postponed for the 11th time on Dec. 28 with feuding factions deadlocked over a constitutional amendment and the shape of a future government. A new parliament session has been set for Jan. 12.

 

The crisis over the presidency has capped a yearlong power struggle between anti-Syrian politicians, who hold a slim majority in parliament and support the government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, and the opposition led by Hizbullah.

 

The ruling coalition accuses the opposition of obstructing the presidential vote under orders from Syria and Iran, which back Hizbullah. In turn, the opposition claims pro-government groups in the parliament majority follow U.S. policies.

 

Nasrallah accused the United States of obstructing the presidential vote by telling its allies in the parliamentary majority not to give the opposition a veto power in any future government.

 

“As long as there is a U.S. decision not to give the opposition a veto power, this means there won”t be a presidential election,” he said.

 

Lawmakers on both sides have agreed to back Suleiman as a compromise candidate, but parliament must first amend the constitution to allow a sitting military chief to become president.