As the assassins attempt to reduce Lebanon's majority by killing off members of the anti-Syrian coalition, the Lebanese government must prevent any new bloodshed by immediately replacing the slain politicians.Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa asked the government Thursday to issue a decree calling for the election of successors to assassinated Parliamentary Deputies Pirerre Gemayel and Walid Eido. The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said Sabaa sent his request in a memo to the cabinet secretary general Suheil Bawji. A cabinet source said Bawji would list the request on the agenda of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government holding its regular weekly session.
The March 14 majority alliance called Wednesday, a few hours after Eido's assassination by a car bomb in Beirut, for elections to fill in his seat and that of Gemayel, who was shot dead last Nov. 21. Both crimes have been blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Damascus has denied the charges.
Gemayel, a Maronite, represented the Phalange Party in the 128-seat house. Eido, a Sunni, represented al-Moustaqbal Movement in Parliament. Election of the two legislators, if approved, would be held in the Metn and Beirut constituencies.