State court rejects motion to contest by-elections
Fpm mp: 'judiciary's decision ought to be respected'
By Mirella Hodeib
Daily Star staff
Friday, July 20, 2007

BEIRUT: Lebanon's state court rejected on Wednesday a motion contesting the call by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government for the August 5 by-elections. The decision taken by magistrate Ghaleb Ghanem and five member judges and was made public on Wednesday.

The motion was advanced by Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) supporter Tony Orian.

Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa had asked the government to issue a decree calling for by-elections to select replacements for slain MPs Pierre Gemayel and Walid Eido.

By-elections are scheduled to be held in the second district of Beirut and in the Mount Lebanon region of Metn on August 5. The deadline for submitting candidacy in the by-elections is by noon on Friday.

An-Nahar daily reported on Thursday that President Amine Gemayel, Piere's father, is expected to announce the candidacy of his second son, Sami, in a news conference on Friday

Meanwhile, FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan expressed his surprised by the decision of the state court.

"However," Kanaan said in an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio, "the judiciary's decision ought to be respected."

Kanaan said the FPM was likely to take part in elections. The name of Camille Khoury has been widely circulated as FPM's likely candidate.

Media reports on Thursday circulated that Gemayel and FPM leader Michel Aoun are expected to meet soon, "in an attempt to bridge the gap between various Christian groups and avoid any further skirmishes."

"I am not aware of such information," Reform and Change MP Ghassan Mukhaiber told The Daily Star. "I cannot say it is right I cannot say it is wrong."

Lawyer Joseph Mansour Asmar had announced on Monday his candidacy for by-elections to be held three weeks from now in the Metn region.

Asmar is not originally from the Metn region; rather he originates from the Baabda region.

While by-elections in Beirut were expected to be chosen by consensus, former MP Najah Wakim said Thursday that his party will run a candidate.

Wakim told The Daily Star, in a telephone interview on Thursday that the People's Movement he heads will announce its candidate in a news conference, "either Monday or Tuesday."

"Right now we have three potential candidates and we are going to have to choose one ... it would probably Ibrabim Halabi, the movement's vice president," Wakim added.

Future Movement MP Nabil de Freij said on Thursday that his group was going to announce its official candidate on Friday. "However," he said "we hope that a consensus about elections be reached so as to spare the government any further expenses."