BEIRUT, 26 December 2007 — The Lebanese opposition yesterday rejected as unconstitutional draft legislation drawn up by the government aimed at ending deep divisions over the choice of the country’s next president.
The Western-backed Cabinet on Monday unveiled a draft law for a constitutional amendment to enable the election of army chief Michel Sleiman as head of state after weeks of deadlock.
But Ali Hassan Khalil, an opposition MP from the Shiite Amal party of powerful parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, dismissed the proposed legislation — which would change the constitution for one time only to allow a public servant to hold the post of president.
He told reporters it had “no constitutional validity” and charged that it would only serve as an “obstacle to any compromise” between the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition and the ruling coalition.
Lawmakers are set to meet on Saturday in an 11th bid to vote for a new head of state, but many expect Lebanon to remain without a president until after Dec. 31 when Parliament will be in recess.
The country has been without a head of state since former Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud’s term expired on Nov. 23 without feuding political rivals agreeing on a successor. The government and the opposition have agreed on Sleiman as the man for the job, but remain at odds over the election process and the shape of a new administration.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after a Cabinet meeting Monday that the government had prepared the legislation to amend the constitution “for a single time” to allow a senior public servant to become president. He said the draft law will be submitted to Parliament for ratification.
“We are carrying out our duty so that if the constitutional deadline expires (on Dec. 31) we would be ready to elect a president at any given time,” Aridi explained. “We hope this abnormal situation in the country ends, as we are facing a vacancy in the presidency... and we need to take decisions to help Lebanon out of its crisis,” he said.
The majority has insisted that the makeup of the government was within the prerogatives of the president, traditionally drawn from the Maronite Christian community, which has expressed fears for its role in the Muslim-majority country.
MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, a member of the opposition party Hezbollah, insisted in remarks published on Monday that the opposition would boycott Saturday’s session unless both sides reach an agreement involving their basket of demands.
