Lebanon's parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Friday that the Hezbollah-led opposition is ready to give up its demand for the formation of a new government with veto powers in return for consensus on a new president. Berri made the offer in a mass rally at the Bekaa valley town of Baalbek marking the 29th anniversary of the disappearance of Shiite religious leader Mousa al-Sadr during a visit to Libya. "Let us all agree on electing a president on the base of consensus and a two-third quorum for the Parliamentary session that would elect the head of state," Berri said.In return for that, he declared, "The opposition would not want the formation of (a new government) or the expansion of the present government prior to the Presidential elections." After agreeing on the "principle" of his proposal, Berri said he would be committed to "launching consultations with all the sides to agree on the name of the forthcoming president."
"The more we speed up the consensus approach the better. The sooner the better to end the sit-in (In Riyadh Solh Square), keep the turmoil away and avoid evil that hangs over the last 10 days" of the constitutional schedule to elect a new head of state," Berri said. "I am confident that we will reach consensus during the constitutional schedule on a president," Berri added.
Berri, addressing a packed rally, warned that "many (factions) are re-training (militias) and sharpening the knives."
"Everybody awaits a solution and the solution lies in the election of a president. It is an exit," he added. Berri stressed that a two-third quorum is a must for the parliamentary session to elect a new head of state to succeed President Emile Lahoud during the two-month constitutional scheduled that ends on Nov. 14.Despite the concession he made in giving up the opposition's standing condition of assuming veto powers in the government, Berri attacked Premier Fouad Siniora's government as a "cabinet of ghosts Â… for failing to invest the victory achieved in last summer's war" between Hizbullah and Israel. "Was it not for the resistance, Lebanon would have been on the World map as it is now," Berri said. He said that in all previous Arab-Israel wars, the Arabs lost and claimed to be victorious "In this (last summer's) war we emerged victorious and we say we've lost."
Hezbollah declared " divine victory " after the war ended, even though 1280 Lebanese were killed versus 160 Israelis, the infrastructure of Lebanon was left in ruins and 110,000 homes of Lebanese citizens were destroyed. The damage to Lebanon's economy was estimated at $15 billion by the UN
Berri warned against an alleged new plot to nationalize Palestinian refugees and said that combating this scheme requires collective Arab efforts. Such an alleged plot, Berri said, would be implemented during the conference that U.S. President George Bush called for to discuss Middle East peace next fall. Berri predicted that the Bush-proposed Middle East peace conference "would not achieve the required results by avoiding Syria and over passing half of Palestine." He was referring to the Hamas movement.
Israel, he said, is working on "absorbing the Arab Peace initiative, and instead of heading to peace it is preparing for war against Syria and the resistance in Lebanon." He said efforts were being made to "change the nature of conflict from an Arab-Israeli conflict to an Arab-Persian (Iranian) conflict to unleash a Sunni-Shiite turmoil. I warn against the dimensions of this plot and its repercussions on the Arab World, the Palestinian cause and Lebanon."
He said Israel would "demand compensations for Jews who had left Arab countries" to settle in the Jewish state that was created in Palestine in 1948. Berri also warned against any attack on Iran, stressing that such "a strike would put the whole region (Middle East) on fire."
Syria worried
According to local analysts Berri's offer to forgo the demand for a government of national unity ( in which the opposition wants a veto) in return for consensus on a new president is a clear indication that Syria is worried about the election of a March 14 president. "As far as the Syrians are concerned governments in Lebanon come and go but the president will remain for a minimum period of 6 years" , Ahmed Yasseen a local analyst told Ya libnan. "This is why president Assad ordered its allies in Lebanon to focus on the presidency and offer concessions on the government "Yasseen added.