paragraph will be the notice period required to be given by the mayors if they chose to run in the parliamentary elections of 2009.
The other issue that will be the focus of the news today is the removal of the political banners and posters from the streets of Beirut . It was agreed yesterday that banners and posters will be removed starting 11:00 pm Friday and that the job should take a maximum of 2 days. In fact Almustaqbal movement declared that it started removing the banners and posters at 10:30 PM from Saqiyat el Janzeer, Afif al Tobbi street, Tareeq el al Jadeedeh, al Barbeer hospital and al Arab district.
In other developments:
- The activity by the Maronite League which is pursuing a road map of reconciliation also points towards future stability within the Christian community
- The meeting between Hariri and Nasrallah could take place on Sunday evening
Saturday
23:20 the parliament decides to hold the 2009 elections throughout the country in one day
21:38 Parliament adopts tenth article of electoral law. This article relates to the notice period required between the mayor's resignation and application for parliamentary elections. The parliament has decided to make this period six months mayors and two years for the heads of municipality unions.
16:50 Hariri said the majority’s position was unified with regards to the issue of awarding soldiers the right to vote. “If we speak about equality in Lebanon, everybody must vote and the minimum age of voters must be reduced to 18. But are we amid an abnormal, or exceptional situation? Did we go to Doha because the situation was normal, or because sectarian strife was about to happen?” he asked.
16:21 NOW Lebanon sources: THE Damascus bombing was performed by AN Iraqi suicide bomber with links to al-Qaeda. the bomber recently entered Syria. The target was the security installation that was in close proximity to the bombing. The sources said that this suicide bombing was a warning that al- Qaeda would turn Syria into a “jihad land.”
15:00 Speaker Nabih Berri closes the parliamentary session, which will be resumed at 8:00 pm this evening. The general assembly refuses to give the soldiers the right to vote, despite a draft proposal on this matter being presented by MP Michel Aoun and supported by Hezbollah and Amal.
14:20 PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt calls for “keeping the political germ away from the military institution and keeping the army away from politics,” in response to requests to allow soldiers to vote in the 2009 parliamentary elections
13:21 Voting on electoral law begins, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora confirmed that the cabinet would continue to refuse to allow soldiers to vote, and that the cabinet adopted the entire electoral law despite some reservations.
13:20 Parliamentary session begins the debate of the electoral law. Head of the Administration and Justice Committee MP Robert Ghanem read the text of the electoral law. Then there was an extensive discussion of the suggestion presented by MP Bahij Tabbara to give soldiers the right to vote in the elections. Aoun supported this suggestion while MPs Boutros Harb, Antoine Zahra, and Robert Ghanem opposed the proposal.
11:51 Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri and PSP leader MP Walid Jumblat arrive at the parliament to attend electoral law debate
10:41 AP : SSyrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majid called Saturday morning’s bombing in Damascus a "terrorist act" and said that all the victims were civilians. Speaking on Syrian state TV, Abdul-Majid declined to say who was behind the blast. "We cannot accuse any party. There are ongoing investigations that will lead us to those who carried it out," said Abdul-Majid
10:27 Two demonstrations in Nijmeh Square protest about the electoral law: One group includes members of the National Gathering for Proportional Representation They are opposing the majority system and claiming that it marginalizes the popular will.
The second demonstration is comprised of the National Gathering for Secularism, . They are against the 1960 electoral law which they say will change the state into a sectarian confederation and will lead to civil war.
A delegation from the National Committee to Support Woman Quota handed a letter to Speaker Nabih Berri to demand a quota for female parliamentary representatives to be included in the electoral law
09:56 US Official source: FM Salloukh leaked the details of the private discussions between presidents Bush and Suleiman to the press
09:45 Maronite League; there is consensus by all parties concerned that the Christian reconciliation should be initiated by president Suleiman
09:39 The explosion in Damascus took place in Al Mulhaq steet south near Mahallat al Sayyida Zainab south
09:25 Syria: 17 were killed and 14 were injured in a 200 kg ( 440 lb) car bomb explosion near a security center in Damascus
08:06 Dori Chamoun ( Mayor of Deir el Qamar) told al Sharq al Awsat: Preventing someone ( Mayor) who was elected by thousands from participating in the parliamentary elections is unfair and adopting this skewed electoral law is unconstitutional
07:56 Kanaan told al Sharq al Awsat: Reduction of the notice period for mayors is not for the purpose of reconciliation as has been rumored but for personal reasons
07:50 Skaff: we have to look seriously at reconciliation . They are stretching their arm for reconciliation but attacking with the other as if they are saying we will" break it and fix it too"
07:11 Al Hayat : Parliament sources deny that the disagreement over notice period for mayors will lead to postponing the adoption of the electoral law , specially since Berri is insisting that the new law should be adopted within 2 days max or Monday the latest
07:03 Sada al Balad : political sources expect the nasrallah - Hariri summit to take place Sunday evening and will be announced Monday morning
06:54 Sada al Balad : sources following the new electoral law expect the parliament will hotly debate the bill. The debate will be hottest between the reform and change bloc and the majority specially with regards to the notice period for mayors specified in the new law
06:34 Change and reform bloc: a president who was elected based on a specific law cannot amend the law later to serve the interest of some
06:18 Al Akhbar : Tabbarah presented a memorandum in which he called for adopting proportionality in some districts without contradicting the Doha accord , reduction of election age , allowing the military personnel to vote and preserving a quota for women
06:11 Siniora : If our differences are accurate then what unites us is a lot more and for this reason we need to be careful when we talk about our differences because this could send us all back to the street
05:58 Aoun: we are not afraid of being friendly to any nation and we can say we are friends to Iran and Syria and we want to be friends with America, but if the American politics wants to threaten our existence we will resist even if we are lambs
05:42 Najjar : we are witnessing today a kind of election alignment as if we are in the middle of an election campaign that is trying to take revenge against the results of the 2005 elections
05:37 Hoss: The Lebanese did not succeed in translating their freedom into democracy . Economically , the Arabs could pursue unity just like the Europeans did
05:34 Nasrallah : liberation of lands cannot be achieved through begging the Americans and westerners, but only through resistance and sacrifices and our experience in Lebanon and Palestine proved that resistance is the only way for liberation
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Friday
22:47 Almustaqbal movement declared that it started removing the banners and posters at 10:30 PM from Saqiyat el Janzeer, Afif al Tobbi street, Tareeq el al Jadeedeh, al Barbeer hospital and al Arab district
21:25 Sayyed Nasrallah said on the anniversary of Jerusalem day: If the opposition wins a majority in the upcoming elections , Hezbollah will support the creation of a national unity government in which the others participate in the government
18:00 Security sources: The remo
