Lebanese opposition regrets Karami's nomination
The Lebanese opposition considered the nomination of the resigned Lebanese prime minister Omar Karami to form and preside over a new government as a "negative development" and a completion for a government constitutes what they called a facade for the Syrian security forces which it holds responsible for the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri and demands the resignation of heads of its security departments.
Simon Karam, one of the prominent figures of Qurtnet Shahwan Meeting group under the patronage of the Maronite patriarch Nasrullah Sfeir, explained that the nomination of Karami was a natural result of the direct effect of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence. He said that Karami will return back "because they asked the parliamentarians to nominate him." He added "thereby a government's return back only constitutes a facade for these instruments."
The opposition sent to the parliamentary consultation session only two parliamentarians. They are Ghenwa Jalloul for the Hariri bloc and Fares Saeed for the Christian Qurnet Shehwan.
Ghenwa said that the demands of the opposition are three: the first is clearing the fact in the killing of Hariri, cooperation with the international committee for investigations; the second is the resignation of the attorney general Adnan Adoum and heads of security departments; and the third is the implementation of the Taif accord which states the withdrawal of the Syrian forces and intelligence from Lebanon according to a table time.
The majority of members of the Lebanese parliament in the parliamentary consultations which was presided over by President Emil Lahoud voted for Karami.
Karami was nominated by 12 parliamentarians of Hizbullah bloc and were represented by the speaker of the Parliament and chairman of the Amal movement Nabih Berri and 8 representing the bloc of the former minister of the interior Suleiman Franhieh.
Lahoud's consultations came one day after the call made by the secretary general of the Lebanese Hizbullah party Hassan Nasrullah in a massive demonstration in support of Syria and rejection of the UN resolution 1559 in which he called for forming a national unity government and making dialogue with the opposition.
Nasrullah demanded during the demonstration which was attended by hundreds of thousands of Lebanese in Riad al-Solh square in the downtown of Beirut on the American administration not to interfere in his country s internal affairs.