Region | Lebanon
Sulaiman warns Lebanon's feuding political factions
Lebanon's army commander warned feuding political factions in remarks published on Thursday that he would bow out of the presidential race and leave his post by midsummer, if the two sides continue wrangling and his election as compromise candidate is not secured by then.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:44 April 4, 2008
Beirut: Lebanon's army commander warned feuding political factions in remarks published on Thursday that he would bow out of the presidential race and leave his post by midsummer, if the two sides continue wrangling and his election as compromise candidate is not secured by then.
The threat by General Michel Sulaiman to quit as army chief - at least three months before officially retiring - was viewed as an ultimatum to both the anti-Syrian parliament majority and the Syrian-backed opposition to break the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president since November.
The resignation would certainly worsen Lebanon's 16-month-old political crisis, its worst since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. The army under Sulaiman has been neutral in the ongoing power struggle between the pro-government and opposition groups.
The two opposing sides have supported the 59-year-old Sulaiman as a consensus candidate to end a dangerous power vacuum after pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ended in November without a successor elected.
But Sulaiman's election has been held up by political bickering in Parliament between the Western-backed majority bloc and the Hezbollah-led opposition over power-sharing in a future government.
'Polarisation'
In the interview yesterday in As Safir daily, which is close to the opposition, Sulaiman said he had had enough of the continued "polarisation" between the opposing sides and that he felt his dignity was hurt over the hold up of his election.
Sulaiman said he will not wait until the last day of his military service on November 21 to retire. Instead, he has decided he would quit as army chief on August 21, three months before retirement, by taking accumulated vacation days, As Safir said.
The paper described the decision as "a highly explosive political bomb" that could also scuttle an Arab foreign ministers' plan adopted in Egypt in January to solve the Lebanese crisis. The plan calls for the election of Sulaiman as a consensus president, formation of a national unity government and the adoption of a new electoral law.
Sulaiman said he would "hold all [factions] responsible and make them understand that the continuation of the current situation will lead to a daily exhaustion of the army and also the exhaustion of the Lebanese who are fed up with politics and politicians".
The presidential impasse has compounded the yearlong fierce power struggle between the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the opposition, which has sporadically degenerated into street clashes in Beirut between supporters of the rival camps.
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