Change MP accuses opposition parties of torpedoing presidential vote agreement

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by naharnet -- MP Paula Yacoubian of the Change parliamentary bloc has accused the other opposition forces of “turning against the understanding” that both groupings were reportedly working on in a bid to agree on a single candidate for the presidential election. “Is there a figure that is more sovereign than (ex-MP) Salah Honein? Why don’t they want to go to a reasonable and acceptable solution?” Yacoubian asked, in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Friday. “They turned against all agreements and made a condition that we endorse the candidate whom they agreed on and who is not consistent with our initiative which calls for a figure that is not part of the political alignments,” the MP added. “We believe that only such a figure can secure the number of votes that allows the election of a president and can prevent the win of a March 8 figure. Can they secure 65 votes for Michel Mouawad?” Yacoubian wondered.

Lebanese Forces sources responded to Yacoubian’s remarks, saying that what’s important is that “most opposition components have voted for the presidential candidate Michel Mouawad.” “Based on the principle of democracy, this will open the door to renewed consultations and communication with all these components to stress that the majority wants this orientation,” the LF sources told Asharq al-Awsat. “Accordingly, all opposition parties and independents must join this sovereign and reformist choice, because it is in the interest of the opposition’s unity,” the sources added. SourceNaharnet

Minister Sejaan Azzi: كلُّ شيءٍ يَتحَدّانا ويَستَفِزُّنا فمَن نَنتخِب؟

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سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

لكي نَتمكّنَ من انتخابِ رئيسِ جُمهوريّةٍ لا يُشكِّلُ تحديًّا لأحدٍ يجب أن نختارَ مبدئيًّا رئيسًا من خارجِ المشروعَين السياسيّين اللذين يَشطُران لبنان ويُقسّمانِه عَمُوديًّا وأفْقيًّا. إذ أيُّ مرشَّحٍ حياديِّ يَملِكُ الشَجاعةَ والقُدرةَ على حكمِ الدولةِ اللبنانيّةِ ما لم يَتمّ التوافقُ عليه بين المشروعَين اللذين لا يلتقيان دون هزيمةِ أحدهما؟ في المنطقِ ذاتِه: "المرشَّحُ الحياديُّ" هو مرشَّحُ تحدٍ أيضًا، بحيثُ سيَعتَبره أركانُ المشروعَين تحدّيًا لهم ونُكْرانًا لصِفاتِـهم التمثيليّة. وإذا ما تراجعَ الرئيسُ الجديدُ عن موقعِه الحياديِّ والتَحَق بأحد المشروعين صار فريقًا، فهل يستطيعُ أن يَحكمَ البلادَ ضِدَّ المشروعِ الفارسيِّ/السوريِّ ذي الامتدادِ اللبنانيّ، أو ضِدَّ المشروعِ الخليجيٍّ/الأميركيِّ ذي الامتداد اللبناني كذلك؟ في هذه الحالةِ لا يعودُ هناك فرقٌ بين مرشَّحِ التحدي المختارِ أصلًا من أحدِ المشروعَين ومرشَّحِ "اللاتحدّي" الـمُنضوي لاحقًا إلى أحدِ المشروعَين.

الّذين يُطالبون، عن حسنِ نيّةٍ، برئيسٍ لا يُشكِّلُ بالمطلقِ تَحدّيًا لأحدٍ، يراهنون على بقاءِ الرئيسِ الجديد خارجَ المحاورِ وفوقَها ليكونَ عَرّابَ المصالحةِ الوطنيّةِ أكثرَ من رئيسِ الجمهوريّة. لكنَّ حَسَنيَّ النيّةِ فاتَهم أنْ لا مصالحةَ لبنانيّةً قبلَ مصالحةِ محاورِ الشرقِ الأوسط، أو بموازاتِها، أو قبل انسحابِ اللبنانيّين من المحاورِ الإقليميّةِ، أو حسمِ موازينِ القوى في ضوءِ نظامٍ عالَميٍّ يبحث عن استقرار بعدما أخْفقَ نظامُ ما بعدَ سقوطِ جِدارِ برلين (09 تشرين الثاني 1989). وما يُثيرُ المخاوفَ هو أنْ تؤثّــرَ تعقيداتُ الـمِنطـقةِ وحروبُـها وتسوياتُـها على الوضعِ اللبناني، لاسيّما أنها في مرحلةٍ جديدةٍ بدأت بارتباكِ مفاوضاتِ ڤيينا حولَ الـمَلفِ النوويّ الإيرانيِّ، بتَعثّرِ الهجومِ الروسيِّ في أوكرانيا وتهديدِ بوتين "باستعمالِ السلاحِ النوويِّ لحمايةِ شعبه"، بانتصارِ اليمينِ القوميِّ في إيطاليا، بزعزعةِ الوِحدةِ الأوروبيّةِ، بالانتفاضةِ النِسويّةِ الإيرانيّةِ ضد تَعسّفِ النظامِ بخاصةٍ ضّدَ المرأةِ هذه المرّة، بالاضطراباتِ المتجدّدةِ في العراق، باستدارةِ تركيا نحو إسرائيل وسوريا، بانتشار همجيّةِ طالبان في أفغانستان، وبنجاحِ التطبيعِ العربيِّ/الإسرائيليّ. لقد باتت مصالحةُ اليهودِ والمسلِمين سهلةً أكثرَ من مصالحةِ المسلمِين الفرس والمسلمِين العرب.

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Crisis-hit Lebanese parliament fails to elect president

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BEIRUT (AP) - KAREEM CHEHAYEB — Lebanon's Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president, with the majority of lawmakers casting blank ballots and some walking out. Under Lebanon’s fragile sectarian power-sharing system, the country’s 128-member parliament votes for a president, who must be a Maronite Christian. That's a challenging threshold, and in the context of the country's struggling economy and deeply-divided Parliament, Lebanon's unresolved leadership question has intensified concerns of government paralysis. The six-year term of incumbent President Michel Aoun ends on Oct. 31. He is a retired military general and an ally of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and was elected in October 2016 following a two-year stalemate.

Aoun’s successor is to be elected at a time when Lebanon is going through an economic meltdown and the government struggles to implement structural reforms required for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In recent months, no majority or consensus candidate in Parliament has emerged, raising prospects of renewed political paralysis and stalemate similar to the one prior to the incumbent president’s election. Lebanon also has not had full-fledged government since May, and currently functions in a limited caretaker capacity under Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

One hundred twenty-two legislators attended Thursday's session and cast their paper ballots into a wooden box in Parliament's assembly hall. Over half cast blank ballots, while lawmaker Michel Mouawad, the son of a former president and staunch opponent of Hezbollah, received 36 votes. The remaining dozens of votes were split between entrepreneur and philanthropist Salim Edde and protest votes, including one for Mahsa Amini, the 22 year-old Iranian woman who died after the Islamic Republic's morality police detained her, igniting protests. Dozens of lawmakers left after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for a recount, breaking the session’s required quorum. He did not announce the date of a new session.

Senior Hezbollah legislator Mohammad Raad said the crisis-hit country's parliamentary blocs are in the “early stages” of finding a president who would “bring stability to the country." “The blocs need to discuss and develop an understanding over a possible consensus candidate,” Raad told the press. Independent lawmaker Halime Kaakour, meanwhile, blasted lawmakers for what she called a “negative calm with no consensus," fearing a prolonged delay in electing a new president. “The Constitution says it's the majority of votes,” she told reporters. “I think it's no longer a logical approach to try to reach a consensus in a country that continues to collapse."

Most candidates who were tipped to be among the frontrunners did not receive any votes, most notably Sleiman Frangieh of the Marada Party, an ally of Hezbollah who calls Syrian President Bashar Assad a “friend and brother." Over the past three years, three-quarters of the tiny Mediterranean nation's population slipped into poverty, as the country's infrastructure and public institutions continue to crumble. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value against the dollar, decimating the purchasing power of millions struggling to cope with rampant inflation rates.

Lebanon has been scrambling for over two years to reform its inefficient and wasteful economy, combat corruption, and restructure its demolished banking sector to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout program. The IMF has recently criticized Lebanon for its slow progress.

We need to implement the terms of the Lebanese constitution to move forward

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by middleeastmonitor.com -- Issam Naaman -- A semi-orchestrated campaign has been seen in Lebanon over the past week calling for the terms of the 1989 Taif Agreement to be implemented. It has involved government heads, ministers, MPs, religious authorities, leaders of political parties, journalists, social media, and women and men from various organisations, circles, regions and affiliations. But why is this happening now? Is it because the American, French and Saudi Arabian foreign ministers issued a statement in New York about the need to "commit to the Taif Agreement which enables the preservation of national unity and civil peace in Lebanon"? Is there anyone within the Lebanese government who opposes the Taif Agreement or calls for its provisions to be bypassed? Or did the three foreign ministers instruct their allies and supporters of their collective interference in Lebanon's internal affairs to raise this issue at this particularly difficult time? If so, why? I would like to remind everyone, opponents and loyalists alike, that most of the reforms and obligations stipulated in the Taif Agreement are an integral part of the Lebanese constitution. The government of Prime Minister Selim Hoss drafted a law to include the agreement's reforms within the body of the constitution, and the House of Representatives approved it on 21 September, 1990. All we need to move forward is to implement the terms of the existing constitution.

The most prominent reforms legislated an introduction for the constitution and amended 31 articles in the constitution, the most important of which are the following: Article 22, which provides for the election of a Parliament on a national, non-sectarian basis, and a Senate with powers limited to crucial issues. Article 24, stipulating that Parliamentary seats are distributed equally between Christians and Muslims. Article 95, which works to abolish political sectarianism according to a phased plan. Is there a country left in the modern world other than Lebanon where many of the provisions of its constitution have not yet been implemented after more than 32 years? The articles were included because the sectarian quota system in government with all its complexities and corruption was adopted upon the establishment of the State of Greater Lebanon by a decision made by the French colonial authorities in 1920. Moreover, we still see the control and corruption of members of the ruling regimes, and the prioritisation of their own interests at the expense of the general national interests, as well as extreme positions taken by some religious figures and institutions.

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EXCLUSIVE Lebanon to slash official exchange rate from Nov. 1, finance min says

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BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Lebanon plans to slash its official exchange rate, replacing the 1,507 per dollar rate adopted 25 years ago with a rate of 15,000 in a step towards unifying numerous exchange rates, the finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday. After saying the move would come into effect on Nov. 1, the ministry later said the step was conditioned on the approval of a plan to address the crisis, which is under discussion in parliament. The Lebanese pound has plunged by more than 95% from the official rate since Lebanon fell into financial crisis three years ago, with dollars currently changing hands at around 38,000 on a parallel market. "The goal is for there to be a unification of the exchange rates in Lebanon,"

Finance Minister Youssef Khalil said, calling the decision a "fundamental step" in that direction. The step would come into force on Nov. 1, the ministry said. "Today, Lebanon has entered a new phase and is no longer using an official U.S. dollar exchange rate that makes no sense ... Now we have one that is useful, based on which you can steer the economy toward a better situation," he said.

The decision - which Khalil said was agreed with central bank governor Riad Salameh - marks a milestone in the meltdown that has plunged swathes of the population into poverty in the worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. "We have to wait before anticipating further moves," he said. Ruling politicians have so far taken scarcely any action towards tackling the crisis. Unifying the numerous exchange rates operating in the country is one of several conditions set by the IMF for Lebanon to secure a badly needed aid package. The Fund has said this is crucial to boosting economic activity. The IMF said last week progress in implementing reforms remained very slow, with the bulk yet to be carried out.

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Cardinal denounces migrant ‘boats of death’ launching from Lebanon

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By Doreen Abi Raad -- cruxnow.com -- BEIRUT — Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai denounced the launching of “boats of death” from Lebanon following the drowning of nearly 100 migrants who had attempted to flee the crisis-stricken country. The boat reportedly set off toward Europe Sept. 20 from the port of Miniyeh, near Tripoli, carrying between 120 and 170 migrants and refugees, mostly Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians. Two days later, it sank in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tartus, Syria, about 30 miles north of Tripoli. “Tragedies have become the daily bread of the Lebanese,'” Rai, Maronite patriarch, said in his Sept. 25 homily at Dimane, the patriarchal summer residence in north Lebanon. “We are appalled by the drowning of … people at sea, boarding boats unfit for long-distance sea crossing,” he said.

Rai lamented “immigration at any cost,” the desperate measures taken by those who embark on a risky, perilous sea journey to escape Lebanon’s suffocating economy with the hopes of a decent standard of living abroad. “The search for life sometimes leads to death,” Rai said. “What is more dangerous is that this tragedy is not the first, so where are the deterrent security measures taken by the state to prevent the boats of death from launching?” the cardinal asked. Earlier in September, at least six people, including children, were killed when a boat bound for Europe from Lebanon sank off the coast of Turkey.

In April, a small migrant boat with dozens of people on board sank off Tripoli. More than 40 people were killed, and many are still missing. “The state is responsible for this tragedy by its inability to get the country out of its economic, financial and social crisis,” Rai said. “We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and we ask God to comfort their hearts with the abundance of his mercy,” he said.

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