Will a president be elected on Jan. 9?
A meeting Wednesday between the Quint's ambassadors and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was "one of the best", Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Alaa Moussa said in a televised interview.
Moussa said that Berri is committed to electing a consensual president who supports the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
- What is UNSC Resolution 1701? -
In 2006, after a bruising monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted for a resolution to end the conflict and pave the way for lasting security along the border. Israeli forces would fully withdraw from Lebanese territories while the Lebanese army and UNIFIL — Hezbollah excluded — would be the exclusive armed presence south of Lebanon's Litani River. The Lebanese state would have full sovereignty over its south.
Resolution 1701's terms were never fully enforced.
- Why has it resurfaced? -
In late November, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to end Israel's war on Lebanon went into effect after 14 months of clashes started by Hezbollah in support of Gaza.
During the 60-day first phase of the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah and Israeli forces are to withdraw from south Lebanon, and the Lebanese military is to step in. Thus, the ceasefire calls for the implementation of Resolution 1701.
The U.S. and France will be involved in a monitoring mechanism to make sure Resolution 1701 is implemented. Their ambassadors, along with the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, have also been working for months to facilitate the election of a president in Lebanon.
- Will a president be elected on Jan. 9? -
Berri has repeatedly vowed that a parliament session scheduled on January 9 to elect a president will not be postponed and expected the session to be productive, but crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a head of state for more than two years amid deadlock between pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs.
Berri said he scheduled the session on January 9 to give the blocs the needed time to agree on a president.
According to Egypt's ambassador, the consensual president would have a wide support among parliamentary blocs and would support Resolution 1701.
No candidates currently enjoy the support of the two opposed pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs. But Moussa had said that the Jan. session would be open with consecutive rounds until a president is elected.
Source: Naharnet
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