lebanese leadership... status quo

After ongoing negotiations at the Future Movement headquarters in Qoraytim, the wheeling and dealing has produced a speaker and a PM. There should be no surprises.

As predicted, Nabih Berri took the Speaker position, in exchange for assurances that he would convene a vote on the status of Samir Geagea (leader of the Lebanese Forces, in jail since the end of the war, only 'warlord' to remain imprisoned) and that the issue of electoral reform would not be neglected.

Saad has thrown his weight behind former Finance Minister Foaud Siniora, not former Justice Minister Bahije Tabbara, as earlier rumoured. Their identifying characteristics seem to be the same though- they are both 'close former allies of the late Rafiq Hariri.' This means that they are both largely indebted to Saad for the position. My assumption is Saad recognized the danger of assuming the mantle of PM himself, and has instead decided to have a puppet minister whom he can direct from behind the scenes. Whether this will actually reduce the threats to his life remains to be seen. I doubt sincerely that he's fooling anyone.

NaharNet has more here. I will also try and recap the next steps in an upcoming post.