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Lebanon wants poll to go ahead
20/09/2007 16:27 - (SA)
Beirut - The Lebanese government said on Thursday the "terrorist" slaying of MP Antoine Ghanem would only reinforce its demand that a parliamentary vote to choose a new president goes ahead on time.
"We do not fear terrorism and this will not break our will. It will only reinforce our determination to prevent the terrorists from succeeding," said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.
"This is a terrorist act similar to the terrorist acts against the lives of members of the majority" over the past three years, Aridi told reporters after a ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
"It cannot be separated from the presidential election... or from attempts to plunge the country into chaos," he said.
"But we are determined to hold the election on time," he said, confirming that parliament speaker Nabih Berri had said the September 25 date still holds for a parliamentary session to choose a successor to President Emile Lahoud.
Aridi said the ruling majority "keeps its hand extended to everybody", in an apparent reference to the country's opposition. "We have to save Lebanon."
Parliament is due to convene next Tuesday for the first time in nearly a year amid an almost total deadlock between the pro-Damascus opposition and the Western-backed ruling majority which has accused Syria of Ghanem's murder.
'Creating chaos'
Ghanem, killed along with four others in a car bombing on Wednesday in a Beirut suburb, was the eighth member of the anti-Syrian majority to be assassinated since the 2005 murder of former billionaire premier Rafiq Hariri.
After a meeting, the ruling majority urged "the Arab League and UN Security Council to adopt all the necessary measures to guarantee that the presidential election takes place on time in a bid to protect the Lebanese republic".
They again accused Syria of "physically eliminating the deputies in order to prevent the presidential vote.
"The Syrian regime has taken the decision to destroy Lebanon by blocking government actions, preventing the presidential election, creating chaos and resuming its hegemony over Lebanon," majority members said in a statement.
The majority called on the opposition to attend Tuesday's parliament session and called on Berri to guarantee "emergency security measures" to ensure the safety of the MPs.
They also called for "massive participation" in Ghanem's funeral on Friday.
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