Dark Tunnel

23 November 2007



Lebanese Political Deadlock Continues

The political situation in Lebanon got even more cloudy this week. The current term of pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud expired at midnight. The parliament has been unable to select a successor. With a vacant presidency, the Prime Minister, pro-Western Fouad Siniora, takes on the powers of Mr. Lahoud’s office, such functions as signing decrees and making hiring decisions within the government. However, the opposition, led by Hezbollah, has declared Mr. Sinior’s government illegitimate. Civil war hasn’t arrived just yet, but it is hardly receding either.

The difficulty is in finding a single candidate in Lebanon who can get a 2/3 vote in a parliament as divided as the one in Beirut. Of course, it doesn’t help that in the last three years, no fewer than 8 highly placed anti-Syrian lawmakers have been assassinated. It’s rather hard to negotiate a settlement under such circumstances.

The pro-Syrian opposition has taken a further step that could end any such hope of negotiation. It has threatened to set up a rival administration. A separate cabinet claiming authority to rule Lebanon is certainly not going to help matters much. At this stage that appears to be merely a threat, but in the Middle East, threats take on a life of their own,

Just before his term expired, President Lahoud ordered the Lebanese Army into the streets. He stopped short of declaring a state of emergency, but for all intents and purposes, Lebanon is under martial law while the politicians try to settle on a new president.

Were the Lebanese left to their own devices, it is conceivable that a candidate would eventually emerge who had sufficient support in the parliament to win the office of president. However, the Lebanese have been pawns in other people’s political games for decades. The US, France, Israel, Syria and Iran are all meddling in one way or another. This doesn’t bode well for the country or the region.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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