BEIRUT, 29 September 2007 — Lebanon’s parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri yesterday criticized what he termed UN Security Council interference in calling for a free Lebanese presidential election on Oct. 23.
“It is not within the competence of the United Nations Security Council — with all the respect which is due to it — to interfere in Lebanese affairs,” Berri said in a statement.
Berri, a leader of Lebanon’s opposition, said the election was “the business of the Lebanese people.” On Thursday the 15-member council in a statement “called for the holding of a free and fair presidential election in conformity with the Lebanese constitutional norms and schedules and without any foreign interference.”
Two days earlier, Parliament in Beirut had adjourned until Oct. 23 a crucial session to elect a new president for lack of a quorum, amid deadlock between the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the pro-Syrian opposition.
The Security Council statement said it “took note of the decision to convene the next session of the Lebanese Parliament on Oct. 23 and looked forward for the Parliament to proceed as appropriate to the election of the president.”
Ali Hamade, in charge of foreign affairs in Berri’s Amal party, told AFP: “The statement responds to attempts by certain parties who are trying to internationalize the Lebanese question and submit it to the UN.” He added: “The council would have done better to stress the efforts being made toward a solution instead of opting for the tone of a sermon.”
