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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Half-plus-one vote gathers momentum after election delay |
| 2007-12-12 |
| Hours after a parliamentary session to elect a new president was put off again for an eighth time, leaders of the ruling March 14 coalition hinted at resorting to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one. According to political analysts the half-plus-one vote gathered momentum immediately following the announcement by Berri's office which stating that the presidential elections were delayed till next Monday, Dec. 17. MP Wael Abu Faour said after meeting Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir Turesday morning: "We do not rule out any possibility, be it elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one or not." Abu Faour was part of a delegation dispatched by Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt . The delegation included Jumblatt's closest ally Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat also told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Tuesday that March 14 "did not at all abandon the half-plus-one option. This is a constitutional alternative." Similarly , former MP Fares Said, a prominent member of the March 14 ruling majority urged his colleagues to go ahead and elect army General Michel Suleiman as the next president based on the half plus one quorum . He recommended the coordination of this action with Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Said blamed the delay on Iran and Syria who according to him "want to burn Lebanon" MP Saad Hariri also did not rule out the possibility that March 14 might resort to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one. |
| Posted by:Fred |