TASHNAG THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND FPM AHEAD OF VOTE

Daily Star – Lebanon

July 24 2007

Dakkache tries to broker deal on consensus candidate in metn
by-election

The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) gained the support of MP Michel
Murr and his Tashnag Party allies on Monday in the Metn by-election,
securing the support of substantial numbers of the roughly 32,000
Armenian voters in the Metn. The Metn electorate totals 162,950 voters,
of which 72,430 are Maronite.

Change and Reform Bloc leader MP Michel Aoun made the announcement
from Rabieh with Murr and Tashnag Party leader Hovig Mekhitarian.

Aoun called for a spirit of good sportsmanship to prevail in the
coming elections. Murr stressed that the alliance with the FPM was
"firm and unshakable."

"We would like the election campaign to proceed calmly – this campaign
is not aimed at any individuals but has a clear political basis," Aoun
told reporters. The FPM leader criticized Future Movement leader MP
Saad Hariri’s implicit reference on Sunday to electoral opponents in
the Beirut by-election as "assassins," adding that "first they ask us
to take part in elections, and then they call us assassins when we do."

Murr pointed to a longstanding alliance between Tashnag and the FPM
that resulted in victories in the last general elections in 2005.

"This alliance still stands without any hesitation on the political
level. Our alliance with Tashnag has lasted 50 years, [and] we will
not change at the last minute. Our alliance with General Aoun has
stood since the 1980’s," Murr said.

Mekhitarian said Tashnag’s decision is clear with regard to the
by-election in the Metn, and hope for a consensus between opposing
parties in the election is slim.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, after meeting an FPM
delegation on Monday headed by FPM senior member Gebran Bassil, renewed
his call to all parties to meet and overcome their "rigid positions"
and rescue Lebanon from its crisis. Sfeir said no party can monopolize
authority and Lebanon is for all its children, whose responsibility
it is to preserve the unique formula of coexistence in the country.

Following its weekly meeting, the Lebanese Forces called on the
FPM to prevent further tension in the country, especially among the
Christian community, by supporting the candidacy of former President
Amin Gemayel to fill the vacant Maronite seat in Metn.

The Lebanese Forces appealed to the FPM to take into account the
Phalange Party’s longstanding struggle for Leba-non and the fact that
it was Gemayel’s son, assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel,
whose seat is being contested.

Gemayel met on Monday morning with US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman,
who left without making any comment.

Gemayel later met independent MP Pierre Dakkache, who has offered
to mediate between Gemayel and Aoun to prevent the electoral
battle unfolding in the Metn. "The endeavor I am undertaking is
conciliatory. When matters are difficult, solutions come about
through consensus," Dakkache told reporters after his meeting with
Gemayel. Dakkache, who met Aoun earlier, conveyed to Gemayel the
FPM leader’s readiness for reaching consensus on the matter of the
by-elections.

"No one likes to start an electoral battle. Everyone must agree in
spite of the difficulties that have passed and in spite of objections
from one party or the other," Dakkache said.

Dakkache met Sfeir on Monday and received encouragement from
the patriarch for the mediation. The two discussed both the Metn
by-election and the presidential election. Dakkache described the
meeting with the patriarch as a meeting of minds and said there was
a real desire to avoid an electoral battle in these difficult times.

Dakkache will visit Murr and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in
his mediation efforts. Speaking to Voice of Lebanon radio, Dakkache
said he aims to work toward a calm and conciliatory atmosphere ahead
of the Metn by-election.

Lawyer Joseph Mansour Asmar, another candidate running in the
by-election, has challenged the nomination of Dr. Camille Khoury as
a candidate in the Metn by-election.

"How can a candidate run for election when he contests the
constitutionality and legality of calling for such elections?" asked
Asmar.

Asmar said Khoury aimed to prevent people from exercising their
democratic rights and duty to vote for MPs to fill vacant parliamentary
seats.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani stressed the importance of
holding by-elections on August 5 to fill the two vacant parliamentary
seats in Beirut and Metn, adding that participation in elections is
a national duty, especially in these difficult times.

Qabbani also urged all majority and opposition MPs to attend the
parliamentary session to vote for a new president, scheduled for
late September. He said a boycott of such a session is a violation of
democratic practice within Parliament. – The Daily Star, with agencies