UNSG BAN visits Lebanon to urge agreement on new President

Posted on November 17th, 2007 by Marian Houk

During his brief visit to Lebanon this week, the BBC reported, UNSG BAN Ki-moon “urged Lebanese MPs to elect a new president on time … [Otherwise] there are fears that the government could split into rival administrations if a candidate cannot be agreed.”

The BBC says that SG BAN held talks with politicians across the spectrum – including Hizballah.

He told journalists in Beirut that unless responsibilities were shouldered, the country might be moved to ‘the brink of the abyss’ … President Emile Lahoud’s term ends on 23 November and parliament has so far failed to elect a successor. A meeting is expected next week … [F]actions are deadlocked in what is seen as the most serious crisis since 1990″.

The vote has already been re-scheduled three times.

The split in the country is described as being between “pro-Syrian” and “anti-Syrian” forces — or, alternatively, between “pro-Syrian” and “pro-Western” forces, but these descriptions may be far too simplistic.

The BBC reported that *Mr Ban is bolstering a French-led initiative to break the deadlock”.

Since their hold on the country after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, France has seen its role as a special protector of Christians in the Levant. According to the Lebanese Constitution, which has set up a “power-sharing” system on the basis of a population census several decades out of date, the president must be a Maronite Christian.

The BBC adds that the “Parliament is scheduled to meet again on 21 November. Mr Lahoud says he will appoint an interim administration, headed by the army chief, if his successor is not in place”. The BBC report on UNSG BAN’s remarks during his visit to Lebanon last week is here.

An earlier BBC story reported that UNSG Ban held “talks with the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, who is reported to have drawn up a list of candidates that may be acceptable to government and opposition … France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner held talks with the patriarch on Tuesday. Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa are also due in Beirut later in the week and Mr Kouchner returns next week for his sixth visit in six months”. The other BBC report is here.

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