Reuters: Lebanon opposition demands early elections

[Eugene]

Lebanon opposition demands early elections

By Tom Perry
Reuters
Monday, December 18, 2006; 11:41 AM

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's opposition, led by Syrian-backed Hezbollah, called
on Monday for early parliamentary elections after the ruling anti-Syrian coalition
refused to meet its demand for veto power in government.

The call for early elections, an escalation in opposition demands, could complicate
Arab League efforts to end Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-1990
civil war. Many Lebanese fear the standoff could turn violent.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is due in Beirut on Tuesday to meet the
rival Lebanese politicians. He held talks on Sunday with leaders in Saudi Arabia,
which supports Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/AR2006121800241.html

[rpannier]

1. I think the government should stand pat and not agree to this

The precedent it sets could be disastrous.

What I find interesting/amusing about this is...

People who support new elections in Lebanon generally oppose them in the Palestinian Territories and people who oppose the call in Lebanon generally support them in Palestine.

I think it's a bad idea in both instances.
By calling for new elections the message that is sent (IMO) is, if enough threat of force is applied, or actually applied, the government will cave everytime.

[Igel]

2. I agree with poster #1, but have a different point to raise.

'The opposition said it was now demanding "first of all ... a new law for parliamentary elections and secondly ... early parliamentary elections."'

Early elections would be a mistake.

But a more grievous mistake might be the 'new law for parliamentary elections'. Parliament's divvied up along confessional lines (think of it as communalism or different "collectives" competing; you're not an individual, you vote within your community--old Ottoman practice, that). Nobody's revised the basic rule substantially for a while; some of the practice is based on a very old census, so that the division doesn't necessarily reflect demographics.

Hizb wants more power, and they may have the demographics behind them (since the Shi'a have been more prolific than the Christians).

[High Plains]

3. Better to maintain an undemocratic, outdated system...

...than let the wrong guys win democratically, right?