Lebanon's parliament was scheduled to meet yesterday to amend the Constitution to enable the election of the army chief as head of state, officials of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the opposition backed by Damascus and Tehran said.
Several politicians had said on Thursday that the parliamentary vote was set to be delayed for a seventh time as feuding parties accused each other of blocking the process.
But an official of Saad Hariri's ruling Future parliamentary bloc who requested anonymity said: "There's a session Friday to amend the Constitution."
This was backed by an opposition member of parliament who said parliamentary speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri had called on members of his bloc to take part in the meeting.
Also asking for anonymity, the opposition member of parliament said he did not rule out the presidential election being held after the vote on amending the Constitution.
After weeks of negotiations, rival leaders have agreed on army chief General Michel Sleiman for the top job but are still divided on how to amend the Constitution to allow his election and on the make-up of a new Cabinet.
Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun reiterated on Thursday that he would only endorse Sleiman for two years until the 2009 parliamentary elections, and blamed the ruling majority for the deadlock.
"I have made enough compromises and I will add a new demand every day," Aoun said.
The ruling majority "led us to the void. They thought that the void would scare us ... but it does not scare us and the presidency will always be there," he said.
"If not now, in a week, if not, in a month or in a year. The country will not be destroyed, more than this current government has been destroying it," said Aoun, who had himself been running for the top job.
Article 49 of the Constitution bars public servants from assuming the presidency within two years of leaving their posts.
Lebanon has been without a president since Nov. 23, when incumbent Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term.
Aoun has suggested the crisis over the presidency could end if independent figures are chosen to fill the posts of president and prime minister, a proposal the ruling majority has rejected.
The Hezbollah-led opposition has been seeking a "comprehensive deal" to end the crisis, including agreements on the new president, the make-up of the next government, a new electoral law and the appointment of security chiefs.
The ruling majority has insisted that it would not be tied down to any pre-set deals before a president is elected, saying lingering problems would be dealt with by the future government and parliament.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
RSS