Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hasraised a new plan to end the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon: formation of a transitional government to oversee early parliamentary elections, a measure seen as contradicting the Arab League initiative.
According to Al Hayat newspaper which published the story on Wednesday, the ruling March 14 coalition rejected the proposal, saying it "comes in contradiction with the Arab League initiative." The report said the Syrian proposal was conveyed by Assad to Arab League chief Amr Moussa during a recent meeting in Damascus.
The sources said Assad's plan calls for electing army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president on March 11 in return for the immediate formation of a transitional government to oversee early parliamentary elections based on the 1960 election law. Moussa has reportedly conveyed the Syrian plan to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Future movement leader Saad Hariri.
The sources said the coalition rejected the offer which contradicts with a three-point Arab plan that calls for electing Suleiman president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and adoption of a new electoral law.
