Justice Ministry looks to drafting new electoral law Qabbani says goal is real representation Daily Star , May 23, 2005 BEIRUT: The Justice Ministry’s Committee for Unifying and Modernizing Laws has formed a subcommittee that will have one month to draft a new modern electoral law in line with the Constitution and the Taif Accord. Justice […]
The General and The Particular By Nahla Atiyah , May 23, 2005 Zone A in Rabieh on the northern hills of Beirut is one urban oasis in the jungle of our sprawling capital. Pristine gardens hug upper crust villas, home to the expensively anorexic. The rustling wind plays the leafy trees. And only a small circle […]
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Aoun-Jumblatt alliance unlikely in Lebanon polls
By Majdoline Hatoum
Daily Star , May 23, 2005
BEIRUT: With less than a week left to go before the start of the first leg of Lebanon’s
Parliamentary elections, the electoral alliance between leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Michel Aoun and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt appears to have disintegrated into shambles.
But the possibility of an alliance between Aoun’s FPM and Saad Hariri, head of the Future Movement and Jumblatt’s staunchest political ally, remained strong with reports that a coalition might be formed between the two parties in North Lebanon.
Aoun, who formally announced he will be running in the elections, said Sunday: “We will continuediscussions with Hariri even if talks have ended with Jumblatt.”
Commentary
Aoun’s main rift with Jumblatt surrounds the Aley-Baabda electoral district, where Aoun’s FPM insists on having three seats, while Jumblatt is saying the former general should not “monopolize the opposition.”
Meanwhile, Speaker Nabih Berri called on all Lebanese political factions to hold an internal discussion aimed at building “Lebanese unity,” adding that sectarianism has driven the Lebanese apart.
Lebanese Agree Election Law Needs Reform: UN Envoy
May 22 , 2005
BEIRUT (Reuters) — Lebanese politicians agree that electoral reform must be a priority after Lebanon holds its first parliamentary polls for three decades without Syrian troops in the country, a U.N. election expert said on Sunday.
Lebanese go to the polls in four rounds of voting from May 29 to June 19 under a widely criticised law designed to maximise the influence of pro-Syrian politicians in the 2000 elections.
“If there’s one area of consensus, it’s obviously that the 2000 law has flaws and also that the electoral law needs to be discussed immediately after the elections,” Carina Perelli, head of the U.N. elections unit, told Reuters in an interview.
Many Lebanese believe their politicians will simply go back to business as usual once the election is over and quietly forget their promises of reform made after protests by hundreds of thousands of people helped force the Syrian withdrawal.
Voting for new Middle East order
Nicolas Rothwell , May 22, 2005 , The Australian
WHEN Lebanese voters go to the polls this weekend in the first phase of their country’s parliamentary elections, the impact will resonate far beyond the avenues of rebuilt Beirut and the souks of Tripoli.
The voting system may be imperfect, the campaigning may be centred on the creation of alliances of convenience, but this election marks the democratic end game of a remarkable popular revolution.
The effect upon neighbouring Syria, which has just completed its reluctant troop withdrawal from Lebanese soil, will be profound, while the remainder of the Arab world may once more begin to take its political lead from Lebanon.
For the US and France, the two half-declared international sponsors of the Lebanese uprising, the successful outcome of their pressure campaign on Syria suggests that persuasive diplomacy may trump force as a weapon in the struggle to promote Middle Eastern reform.
And for Israel, Lebanon’s southern neighbour and former occupier, the end of the era of virtual Syrian control may once more raise hopes of a comprehensive peace with the next government in Beirut.
Lebanese unity erodes before poll
Rania Abouzeid, May 22, 2005
AS the clock ticks down to Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, which start on Sunday, political infighting and sectarian suspicions have eroded the national unity forged after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February.
Hariri’s slaying and the massive street protests that followed brought down Beirut’s pro-Syrian government and
Jumblat Proposes solution for disarming Palestinians and Hezbullah
May 22 , 2005
Mukhtara, Lebanon: In an interview the Abu Dhabi TV Saturday night,opposition leader Walid Jumblat proposed the formation of a “Palestinian army Brigade” attached to the Lebanese army as a solution
for the dispute over the arms issue in Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps. This brigade, which will be like the Palestinian army brigades in Lebanon and Syria, would disarm the camps under orders from the Lebanese army command.
This type of brigade would constitute a solution to the raging controversy over Hizbullah’s weapons in the sense that Hezbullah, would also create a similar organization to surrender its weapons too, according to Jumblatt.
Photos of the day , May 22 , 2005
Supporters of Lebanon’s Phalange Party, wearing party uniforms originally used in the 1930s and re-tailored for the occasion, fold the Lebanese flag during a ceremony to unveil the statue of the party’s founder Pierre Gemayel in Bikfaya, Lebanon, Sunday, May 22, 2005. The Phalange Party, Lebanon’s most influential Christian political group now buffeted by infighting and dissent, was founded in 1936 to exert Christian power in Lebanon. After dominating Christian politics for decades, during the 1975-90 civil war the Phalange militias fought against Muslim forces and Palestinian guerrillas. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil)
Hezbollah issues warning to Israel following border clashes
Source : Aljazeera , May 22 , 2005
Related story : Hizbollah shells Israeli post near Lebanon border
Hours after its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in a disputed border area, the Lebanese 
group Hezbollah stressed that it will not allow Israel to cross the “red line” and attack Lebanese civilians or targets, a senior Hezbollah official said.
In an interview with Gulf News, Nabeel Qawook, Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Aoun says to run for parliament
By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Anti-Syrian Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said on Sunday he would run in Lebanon’s parliamentary election despite difficulties in forging an electoral alliance with Muslim opposition leaders. The fiery retired general said talks on linking up with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, had produced no agreement on a joint ticket for the polls.
He said time was running out for a deal between the three men, the most prominent figures in the disparate opposition that helped end Syria’s 29-year military presence in Lebanon.
The Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, triggered a wave of peaceful street protests in Lebanon and intense international pressure that forced Damascus to withdraw its forces last month.