Berri visits Sfeir ahead of re-election
Lebanon, Politics
Majdoline Hatoum ,Maroun Khoury (Daily Star staff)

The battle to elect a new House speaker took a decisive turn, with former Speaker Nabih Berri visiting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, in a step widely seen as seeking support for his candidacy to the post. The visit came as the French Foreign Ministry denied media reports claiming Paris was opposed to Berri's re-election.

Filling Speaker's seat tests opposition unity
Lebanon, Politics
Walid Choucair

Having obtained a majority in Parliament the opposition now finds itself in the difficult predicament of having to hold the reigns of power with President Emile Lahoud lingering in the background.

Geagea release priority for Lebanese Forces and allies
Lebanon, Politics
Karine Raad (Daily Star staff)

MP-elect George Adwan reiterated the Lebanese Forces' alliance with the Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party is "political and goes beyond the parliamentary polls." In a meeting with MP-elect Saad Hariri, Adwan, accompanied by MP-elect Elie Keyrouz, said discussions focused on several issues.

Samir Franjieh's summer home set on fire after break-in
Lebanon, Politics
Rym Ghazal (Daily Star staff)

The summer house of newly elected Zghorta MP Samir Franjieh was broken into late Thursday and set on fire, but no one was reported hurt as the house was deserted. When contacted by The Daily Star, Samir Franjieh said: "The people who did this are militiamen. They broke into our house and tried to burn it down, but unsuccessfully, as the police were called in as soon as we heard about the break-in."

Clerics express concern at the unstable security situation
Lebanon, Politics
Karine Raad (Daily Star staff)

The Higher Shiite Council Vice President Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan and senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah slammed the unstable security situation in the country, which they believe "could reintroduce foreign tutelage here."

It's all in the final ballot
6/18/2005

Sunday's final round of elections has proven will be too close to call for political observers put on short notice following Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun's surprise victory in Mount Lebanon, and punched huge holes in Saad Hariri's once indisputable calculations.

Real renewal means no Lahoud or Berri
6/21/2005
Chibli Mallat

With the exception of the third round of voting two weekends ago, the results of Lebanon's parliamentary elections have been pretty much as expected. The opposition now has a significant majority, which is normal considering the massive upheaval that took place following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February.

For an election reality check, visit your local mukhtar
6/18/2005
Habib Battah

In trying to be sorcerers, Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri proved they were mere sorcerer's apprentices. Surely the most deceitful line coming out of the elections in Mount Lebanon on Sunday was the warning by the Druze leader that the victory of the Aounist movement placed Lebanon on the threshold of a new civil war.

Lebanon is not out of the woods yet
6/18/2005
Adib F. Farha

The results of the third round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections last Sunday, which gave maverick General Michel Aoun a sweeping victory in the largely Christian Metn and Kesrouan-Jbeil districts, were worrisome. They do not bode well for Lebanese inter-religious reconciliation, for moderation, and for success in evicting Syria's cronies and its allies from the state security agencies.

In trying to be sorcerers, Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri proved they were mere sorcerer's apprentices. Surely the most deceitful line coming out of the elections in Mount Lebanon on Sunday was the warning by the Druze leader that the victory of the Aounist movement placed Lebanon on the threshold of a new civil war.