By IINA,
Beirut : Lebanon’s parliament yesterday elected Army Chief Michel Suleiman as head of state, reviving paralyzed state institutions after an 18-month standoff between a US-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition. Celebratory gunfire erupted in Beirut after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri declared that Suleiman, the sole candidate, had won by securing 118 votes in the 128-member assembly. The election was part of an agreement brokered by Qatar last week to defuse a crisis that had pushed Lebanon to the brink of civil war, with Hezbollah briefly seizing parts of Beirut and routing government partisans. At least 81 people were killed.
The Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa AlThani was the most prominent of many dignitaries in Beirut for the vote. Addressing the Lebanese Parliament after the election, the Emir hailed the Doha accord. “We know that there is a rule in Lebanese politics that considers that there is no victor and no vanquished in the political feuds,” he said, but added in this case “the victor was Lebanon and the vanquished was schism”.
Electing Suleiman by Parliament, which had not met for over a year, was evidence that the Doha accord had succeeded, the Emir said. He noted that the resistance was important two years ago when it fought Israel, while at present “your wisdom is important.” He called the current phase as “the most important and dangerous phase in Lebanese history” , hoping that the crisis Lebanese recently witnessed would be its last.
He said: “We know that what we have reached, and what you have reached in Doha a few days ago refutes the concept that sedition is present, although dormant.” It was an honor for Doha that the recent Lebanese agreement was reached in a dialogue which “we were able to give all we could to make it a success,” he added. The proof of Lebanon’s success, he told the MPs, was your presence in this room. Foreign ministers attending included those of Iran and Syria, which support Hezbollah, and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian and Saudi ministers met for half an hour after the election. After the vote, Suleiman, 59, took his oath of office in the chamber before making a speech designed to set the tone for his six-year term. Lebanon has had no president since November.
Suleiman urged a “calm dialogue” on a national defense strategy that would draw on the “capacities of the resistance”, apparently suggesting the eventual integration of Hezbollah’s guerrillas into Lebanese security forces. Hezbollah has rejected any move to force it to lay down its weapons, which it says are needed to deter Israeli attack. But its Lebanese opponents revived calls for the Shia group to disarm after its military offensive in Beirut this month. Tackling another of the challenges his presidency will face, Suleiman called for formal diplomatic links with Damascus.