Lebanonwire.com | Lebanon opposition accuses pro-Syria camp of sabotaging May elections

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March 31, 2005

Lebanon opposition accuses pro-Syria camp of sabotaging May elections
by Salim Yassine

BEIRUT - Lebanon's opposition on Thursday accused the outgoing pro-Damascus government of working to delay elections in a bid to retain control of parliament, as Syria pressed on with a troop withdrawal.

Despite international demands that parliamentary elections go ahead as scheduled by the end of May, prime minister-designate Omar Karameh's assigned task has been "to sabotage" the polls, the opposition said.

The charges flew as opposition parties met to renew their demand for the formation of a "neutral" government to ease the political crisis sparked by last month's assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

"The authorities are working to sabotage elections in a dangerous bid to prolong the mandate of the current parliament," leaving the holding of the polls hanging in the balance, they said in a statement.

"The opposition blames the head of state of state, (President) Emile Lahoud, parliament speaker Nabih Berri, and parliament for this situation, and calls for them to meet their obligations without delaying tactics."

MP Ghattas Khoury, reading out the statement after the talks at the west Beirut home of the late Hariri, charged that Karameh's actions were "anti-constitutional".

Karameh, who has said he will step down but delayed the move at least until Friday, was "personally and directly responsible for the cycle of violence which has hit the country and for its repercussions", it said.

Amid high tension between the rival political camps since the February 14 murder of Hariri, three people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks, which like the assassination have gone unclaimed.

The opposition wants a new government also to cooperate with a planned UN commission of inquiry into the killing but has refused to join Karameh in a national unity government.

Karameh has stalled on his plan to resign, in a fresh holdup in the constitutional process, saying he first needed to consult his allies in the pro-Syrian camp.

That meeting is due to take place on Friday evening at the home of parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

The government has been accused of working to postpone the elections for fear of being swept aside by the wave of anger over Hariri's murder, which the opposition has blamed on the government and its Syrian backers.

Karameh has been operating on a caretaker basis since first resigning on February 28 in the face of massive opposition protests over the killing of his rival. On March 10, Lahoud asked him to try to form a new government.

Once Karameh steps down, the president would have to consult with MPs on choosing a prime minister, who would in turn need to win a parliamentary vote of confidence in a new government.

Parliament would then have to pass a new electoral law for the polls to go ahead, with the government having to give at least one-month notice of a date for the elections to start, under the constitution.

Amid the political deadlock, the Syrian army continued Wednesday for an eighth consecutive day to dismantle positions in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon as it pressed on with a troop pullout.

Dozens of military trucks and vehicles were seen heading for the border.

Some 10 trucks loaded with files and office equipment also left the Syrian headquarters in the border town of Anjar, where Syria's powerful military intelligence chief for Lebanon, General Rustom Ghazaleh, is based.

Since March 5, Syria has shifted its 14,000-strong force to the Bekaa or back across the border, reducing its deployment to some 8,000 soldiers from a high of 40,000 during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara in a letter to UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday pledged that his country would pull out its remaining troops before elections in Lebanon.