Mabrook Lebanon

Finally a deal to end the crises reached in Qatar
Doha - The presidential election will take place either on Thursday or latest this Friday, depending on the arrival dates of the MPs currently in Qatar according to the deal reached in Qatar aimed at ending the political crisis in Lebanon, officials in Qatar said.

The agreement was reached at about 3:00 AM Doha, Qatar time after intensive negotiations that lasted for 5 days between supporters of the Lebanese government and the Hezbollah-led opposition

Lebanon has been without a president since November 23, 2007 when the pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term

Lebanon has witnesses the worst political crises since the last civil war last week Lebanon came too close to start another civil war , following the so called "Hezbollah coup against the state which resulted in the killing of 81 and the wounding of 200. The Government's resolutions to outlaw Hezbollah's illegal telephone network and to fire Beirut airport's security chief triggered the Hezbollah violence. The government had to rescind both resolutions in order to end the violence after an Arab League committee visited Lebanon and intervened

The breakthrough came after Qatar proposed 2 sets of proposals ( on electing a new president, power-sharing in the new cabinet and the electoral law) and asked the parties to agree on one of the proposals for final settlement. When the parties could not agree on either proposals because of the electoral law , Qatar officials formed a Quartet committee (of 2 representative from each side ) to discuss and provide recommendation on the last sticking issue , which was the electoral law for the parliamentary elections that are expected to take place next year .

Around midnight it became clear that an agreement was near , since all parties voiced optimism and promised they will not leave before an agreement

MP Walid Jumblatt , a key leader of the March 14 alliance which backs the government said "The Lebanese people have the right to be angry at us if we return to Lebanon without agreement and we are doing every thing possible to reach an agreement "

Similarly opposition MP Ali Hassan Khalil sounded optimistic when he said that he expected a parliamentary vote to elect a president on Thursday or Friday.

Last year , the rival groups had agreed on electing army chief Gen Michel Suleiman to succeed the former President Emile Lahoud, but they could not agree on anything else and for this reason the presidential elections were delayed 20 times . The first election date was scheduled for Septem,ber 25, 2007

Lebanon has been in political crisis since late 2006 when the six ministers of Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition resigned from the democratically elected cabinet. The opposition followed this move with a sit-in demanding more power and a veto over government decisions.

The deal: Here are some sketchy details that appeared in the Arabic Daily An Nahar about the deal agreed in Qatar. On Wednesday the details of the deal will be announce by the Arab committee in Doha, Qatar

A- To Form a national unity government based on 16 ministers of the majority, 11 of the opposition (one third with veto power) and 3 to be picked by the President.

B- Distribution of The parliamentary seats in Beirut electoral region will be distributed as follows :
10 in Mazraa electoral District
5 in Ashrafieh electoral District
4 in Bachoura electoral District

C- The final statement on the agreement will include a reference to the weapons of organizations that are not under the direct control of the army and this issue will be finalized by the new president in Beirut

And last but not least all the above is conditional to the election of Army Chief General Michel Suleiman as the president of the republic of Lebanon no later than this coming Friday May 23, 2008.