Under pressure from the opposition and the street, Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karameh produced a spectacular surprise with the announcement of his government's resignation despite the certainty of victory in a vote of no-confidence.
Karameh resigned on Monday in the face of mass protests, bringing to a head a political crisis sparked by the murder two weeks ago of his predecessor Rafiq Hariri.
The announcement was greeted with loud applause in the national assembly in Beirut, where the opposition had been seeking a vote of no-confidence in Karameh's four-month-old government.
The surprise resignation occurred on the first day of a general debate in parliament demanded by the opposition and devoted to the assassination.
This is the second time since 1992 that 70-year-old Karameh has been forced to resign in the face of pressure from the streets.
On the first occasion he had to step down in the teeth of public discontent over social and economic problems.
This time round what is at stake is nothing less than the future of the Syrian army presence in Lebanon.
The withdrawal of the 14,000 Syrian troops on Lebanese soil is being demanded both by the opposition and by the international community at large. The demand has become greater and greater following the death of Hariri.
"The Damascus regime has collapsed in Beirut," said one observer.
The announcement of Karameh's resignation came as a surprise not only to parliamentary deputies, but above all to the pro-Syrian speaker of parliament Nabih Berri.
Visibly shaken, he said in public: "I might at least have been told in advance."
Surprise was also palpable at the presidential palace, where President Emile Lahoud accepted the resignation, requesting Karameh to expedite unfinished business.
Interior Minister Soleiman Frangie was prompted to remark that he felt glad about stepping down, "because we've shown we're democrats."
Only a few days previously Karameh had made his departure conditional on an alternative government being ready to take over to avoid a constitutional void.
The opposition last week called for a transitional government to prepare spring parliamentary elections and supervise the Syrian withdrawal. The elections must take place before the end of May, according to the constitution.
The opposition also called for continuing rallies on Martyrs' Square in Beirut pending the dismissal of security officials and the Syrian withdrawal.
Karameh justified his government's resignation on the grounds of considerations of moral order.
He said he did not wish to be an obstacle to what was considered by some to be the country's welfare, an allusion to street demonstrations and opposition anger over Hariri's death.
He said he had also ceded to the wishes of Hariri's sister, parliamentary deputy Bahia Hariri, who had called for the government's resignation as a matter of priority.
Karameh said he was submitting his resignation despite the assurance of surviving a vote of no-confidence.
Following applause in the assembly, the vast crowd outside on Martyrs' Square, now unofficially renamed Liberty Square, chanted exultantly: "Your turn will come Lahoud, yours too Bashar," a reference to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria has not clearly announced its intentions yet, although both the US and the UN have urged it to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
"Technically we can withdraw our troops before the end of the year," Assad said in an interview Monday with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "Strategically, that will happen only if we obtain serious guarantees. In other words -- peace."
North Korea yesterday made a rare mention of dissenting votes in recent elections, although analysts dismissed it as an attempt to portray an image of a normal society rather than signaling any meaningful increase of rights in the authoritarian state. The reclusive country has one of the most highly controlled societies in the world, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accused of using a system of patronage and repression to retain absolute power. Reporting on the results of Sunday’s election for deputies to regional people’s assemblies, the North’s state media said that 0.09 percent and 0.13 percent voted against the selected candidates
‘SYMBOLIC ATTACK’: Ukraine said it downed 74 of the Iranian-made drones, but five people were wounded in Kyiv, as people marked Holodomor Remembrance Day Ukraine on Saturday said it had downed 74 out of 75 drones Russia launched at it overnight, in what it said was the biggest such attack since the start of the invasion in February last year. The Ukrainian army said Russia had launched a “record number” of Iranian-made Shahed drones, the majority of which targeted Kyiv, causing power cuts as temperatures dipped below freezing. The drone attack came as Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day, commemorating the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. “The enemy launched a record number of attack drones at Ukraine. The main direction
‘SCOURGE’: About 50,000 people demonstrated in Rome after the murder of a 22-year-old university student, while others highlighted the number of femicides in their nations Thousands of people took to the streets across the world on Saturday to condemn violence against women on the international day highlighting the crime. On the UN-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, protesters marched in Europe and the Americas. “The scourge of gender-based violence continues to inflict pain and injustice on too many,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. “An estimated one in three women globally will experience physical violence, rape, or stalking at some point in their lifetimes. It’s an outrage.” In Guatemala, protesters began commemorations on Friday evening, placing candles to write out 438 —
WEATHER PROBLEM: Seoul said the launch, which comes after the North said its new spy satellite is taking images of US military facilities, was rescheduled for Saturday South Korea has delayed the planned launch of its first military spy satellite set for tomorrow, officials said, days after rival North Korea said it had put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time. Under a contract with SpaceX, South Korea is to launch five spy satellites by 2025, and its first launch using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket had been scheduled to take place at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the US. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense yesterday said in a brief statement that the launch was delayed due to weather conditions. Ministry officials said the
RSS