www.xinhuanet.com
XINHUA online
CHINA VIEW
VIEW CHINA
 Breaking News Urgent: Jihad says not committed to ceasefire anymore    Urgent: Three Palestinian teens killed by Israeli troops in Rafah    URGENT: Earthquake jolts Tibet    Urgent:Blast kills one in downtown Cairo    FLASH: UN VOTES TO SET UP INDEPENDENT PANEL TO INVESTIGATE MURDER OF EX-LEBANESE PM RAFIQ HARIRI     China strongly objects EU's restrictions on textiles    
Home  
China  
World  
Business  
Technology  
Opinion  
Culture/Edu  
Sports  
Entertainment  
Life/Health  
Travel  
Weather  
  About China
  Map
  History
  Constitution
  CPC & Other Parties
  State Organs
  Local Leadership
  White Papers
  Statistics
  Major Projects
  English Websites
  BizChina
- Conferences & Exhibitions
- Investment
- Bidding
- Enterprises
- Policy update
- Technological & Economic Development Zones
Source Manufacturers and Suppliers from China and around the world
   News Photos Voice People BizChina Feature About us   
Lebanon's Jumblatt calls for opposition unity for elections
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-11 05:25:07

    BEIRUT, April 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Lebanese Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt here Sunday rejected a delay in upcoming elections and urged for unity of the opposition factions to win the elections.

    Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, told a press conference that "of course we insist on elections on schedule," calling on the opposition to meet and come up with a programme.

    "We should have a clear and ambitious answer to what's next," he said, predicting an opposition win regardless of the shape of the electoral law.

    He also expressed his disagreement with the UN resolution 1559in what concerns Lebanon's Hezbollah (Party of God) and called on the opposition to have a unified vision of means to hold dialogue with Hezbollah.

    On the other hand, Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami is expected to unveil a long-awaited new government on Monday to lead the country into the election, saying the new government will draw up a draft law organizing polls.

    Work on the draft is expected to take weeks, forcing a delay in the polls, political sources say, adding the opposition wants elections as soon as possible to capitalize on public sympathy after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.Pro-government loyalists want a delay of the elections in the hope that public fury will die down and divisions will appear among the ranks of a disparate opposition.

    Hariri was killed in a bomb blast on Feb. 14, which the Lebanese opposition have accused Syria and the pro-Syrian authorities of being responsible for.

    Under US-led pressure and popular protests after the Feb. 14killing, Syria has pledged to withdraw its troops from Lebanon by April 30 and the Karami government had to resign though he was reappointed as the prime minister by President Emile Lahoud. Also on Sunday, tens of thousands of Lebanese people from Christian and Muslim regions across the country took part in a five-km (3.2-mile) race in central Beirut to launch festivities to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of Lebanon's civil war which began on April 13. Enditem

  Related Story
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.