|
|
|
|
Dangerous vacuum in
Lebanon
By Peyman Pejman
BEIRUT - Less than 24 hours after the
unexpected resignation of Prime Minister Omar
Karami, the dominant question here is, what next?
Presidential spokesman Rafik Shalala said
President Emil Lahoud was due to start
consultations with parliament speaker Nabih Berri
Wednesday on choosing a caretaker prime minister
until elections due late April.
Shalala
did not mention in his statement whether the
president was willing to directly deal with
maverick politician and opposition leader Walid
Jumblatt, although indirect talks are believed to
have already begun. Jumblatt said Tuesday the
opposition would meet Wednesday to decide what
steps to take. There has been bad blood between
the opposition and the president, who, like
Karami, is perceived as a Syrian ally.
Jumblatt has tried to make clear that he
is not against Syria, and that he is only asking
for the departure of the Syrian military and
intelligence apparatus from Lebanon. "We are ready
to negotiate any time with Syria, but the
negotiation will be about the implementation of
the Taif agreement," Jumblatt said after Karami's
resignation. That agreement signed in 1989
requires Syrian forces to withdraw from Lebanon.
"Lebanon cannot but have good and friendly
relations with Syria," he said. "The only thing we
have been complaining about is the wrong policies
and domination of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon."
Karami resigned Monday at the beginning of
the afternoon session of the parliament meeting to
discuss the killing of former premier Rafik
Hariri.
In his speech in the morning
session, Karami had given no sign of intending to
resign, but he did just that a little later - to
the surprise of many, including speaker and
Karami's ally, Nabih Berri.
The speech by
Hariri's sister Bahiya Hariri during Monday's
parliament session is said to have upset Karami
and provoked him to resign. Bahiya called for the
cabinet's resignation and full investigation into
the killing of the former prime minister.
Karami apparently took repeated and
pointed attacks against himself and his government
over the Hariri killing personally and, in the
words of one politician, "felt injured".
Many observers here say they do not
believe Syria asked for Karami's resignation.
Widespread reports Tuesday morning, not denied by
the presidency, say Lahoud asked Karami to delay
his resignation by a day or two but Karami
refused.
Karami's sudden resignation has
created a political vacuum that can prove
dangerous, says former prime minister Selim Hoss.
"Yes, it is dangerous," Hoss told IPS. "This void
can be filled only if the opposition is ready to
engage in a process of consultations that is
according to our constitution. I am one of those
who is fearful now that this might not come about
soon enough. The opposition is still reluctant to
open up to the president."
Karami will
stay in office until the parliament has approved
the president's new nominee for the post, but Hoss
says it is unlikely the current government will
continue to perform its duties. That, he says,
will bring uncertainty and potentially, violence.
"In practice, under the circumstances, I
cannot imagine any of the ministers going to his
office to conduct the daily affairs of his
portfolio," Hoss said. "So I am afraid, very much
afraid, that there would not be a minimum of
government in the country and this would open up
the situation to any possibility."
The
office of a pro-Karami deputy was ransacked Monday
night after the resignation, and there were
reports that anti-government groups attacked a
Karami statue in Tripoli, the prime minister's
home town.
Hoss has announced he is
forming a "third front" of intellectuals,
technocrats and some politicians. The new
movement, he said, could be common ground between
supporters of Karami and Lahoud on one hand, and
Jumblatt and the opposition on the other.
Hoss says if his movement can play a role,
he would ask Syrian troops to withdraw to the
Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, and negotiate
a treaty with Damascus for the "eventual"
withdrawal of all 15,000 Syrian military and
intelligence organizations from Lebanon.
(Inter Press
Service) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
Asian Sex Gazette Middle East Sex News
|
|
|
