BEIRUT, 7 September 2004 — Four Lebanese ministers quit the government yesterday to protest against Parliament’s decision to extend President Emile Lahoud’s term by three years despite widespread opposition.
On Friday, a large majority voted to change the constitution to allow Lahoud to stay on, a decision Washington says was imposed on Lebanon by Syria.
The United Nations passed a resolution trying to prevent Syria from interfering, but Syrian and Lebanese officials said the world body had no right to get involved in Lebanese domestic politics.
Environment Minister Fares Boueiz gave his resignation to Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and was quoted by the state news agency as saying: “It is not natural that I should remain in a government with which I differ on a pivotal national issue.”
Aides to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt — a traditional ally of Syria who nonetheless warned against extending Lahoud’s term — later said three ministers allied to Jumblatt had also submitted their resignations to the government.
The resignations from the ranks of 29 deputies who opposed extending Lahoud’s term — against 96 “yes” votes and three abstentions — are likely to prompt a reshuffle of the Cabinet, which some analysts expect Hariri to lead again.
Hariri himself opposed changing the constitution to keep Lahoud, but voted in favor of the move after meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other officials.
Lahoud said over the weekend Lebanon would maintain its ties with Syria, which flooded its neighbor with troops early in the 1975-1990 civil war. Damascus currently has some 16,000 troops in Lebanon.
Yesterday Beirut asked the Arab League to help it counter the UN Security Council resolution.
Former colonial power France co-sponsored the resolution with the United States. It was passed one day before the MPs approved an amendment to the constitution keeping Lahoud in office for another three years.
Foreign Minister Jean Obeid has now asked Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa for the Resolution 1559 to be discussed at the League’s meeting on Sept. 14 in Cairo.
On Saturday Moussa expressed “his astonishment” at the adoption of the UN resolution.
The UN text specifically alluded to the constitutional change, saying the presidential election should be “free and fair... according to Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or influence.”
