Syria”s “New Plan” for Lebanon … Transitional Government

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has come up with a new plan to end the prolonged political crisis in Lebanon: formation of a transitional government to oversee early parliamentary elections, a measure seen as torpedoing the Arab League initiative.

 

The ruling March 14 coalition slammed the proposal, saying it “comes in contradiction with the Arab League initiative.”

 

Arab diplomatic sources said the “plan” was conveyed by Assad to Arab League chief Amr Moussa during a recent meeting in Damascus.

 

The sources said Assad”s proposal calls for electing army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president on March 11 in return for the immediate formation of a transitional government to oversee early parliamentary elections based on the 1960 election law, a move that has been rejected by the pro-government ruling majority as well as Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

 

They said Assad informed Moussa that the proposal still needed to be discussed with the Hizbullah-led opposition.

 

Moussa has reportedly conveyed the Syrian offer to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and al Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri, who is in Riyadh on a private visit.

 

The sources said March 14 rejected the offer which disagrees with a three-point Arab plan that calls for electing Suleiman president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and adoption of a new electoral law.

 

Sfeir on Tuesday rejected a call by the opposition for adoption of a 1960 election law, saying this law “is no longer sound … a county constituency leads to better representation.”