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141 of 348 DOCUMENTS The Washington Post March 15, 1984, Thursday, Final Edition

Lebanese Opposition Lists Demands; Shiites, Druze Call for New Elections
BYLINE: By David B. Ottaway, Washington Post Foreign Service SECTION: First Section; World News; A23 LENGTH: 897 words DATELINE: LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 14, 1984

Lebanon's Druze and Shiite opposition leaders called today for elections within six months to replace Amin Gemayel as president and for a new government of national unity to carry out any agreement on political reforms reached here. The demand was contained in a joint Druze-Shiite set of proposals presented on the third day of the Lebanese national reconciliation conference here. In separate speeches, however, Shiite Amal militia chief Nabih Berri asked for Gemayel's immediate resignation as an alternative to new elections, while Druze leader Walid Jumblatt proposed a Yugoslav-style "collegial presidency" that would rotate annually among an unspecified number of nationally elected members. Jumblatt did not indicate whether he believed the presidency should still be reserved for Maronite Christians, as it is under the present system, or opened to Moslems as well. The Moslem opposition, intent upon reducing the powers of the Maronite presidency, also proposed that the presidential term be reduced from six years to three and renewable only once. It also called for an end to "political sectarianism" in the Parliament and civil service, allowing Moslems more representation in the legislature and more top government and Army posts. A special joint committee would also be set up to reorganize the Maronite-commanded Army. Other reforms now being considered by the nine Christian and Moslem factional leaders gathered here include the establishment of a new Senate body under Druze leadership and organized on a sectarian basis, the strengthening of the role of the prime minister--a post always held by a Sunni Moslem--and a new federal system of goverment, which is the main Christian proposal before the conference. After a prolonged wrangle over a new cease-fire that took effect last night, the conference has gotten down now to detailed discussion over the key issue of political reforms in a somewhat more relaxed atmosphere. Wadi Haddad, Gemayel's national security adviser and a conference spokesman, said the discussion at this morning's session was "very good, very friendly and very open," contrary to some reports of considerable tension between the president and his Druze and Shiite opposition.

Page 2 Lebanese Opposition Lists Demands;Shiites, Druze Call for New Elections The Washington Post March 15, 1984, Thursday, Final Edition "There is a dichotomy between what comes out here and what goes on inside," he told several hundred reporters gathered in a ballroom outside the closed-off conference room. Conference sources said something of a breakthrough in the chill between the opposition and Gemayel was achieved late last night when Jumblatt, bitterly critical of the president in public, asked for a meeting with Gemayel to discuss their differences and the tense security situation in and around Beirut. The meeting, reportedly arranged by Syrian First Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, a conference "observer," went on for two hours. Haddad described it as "positive, friendly and long." But a Jumblatt aide insisted that nothing had been resolved and that the Druze leader was sticking to his demands. Still, Jumblatt canceled a press conference scheduled for noon, a development taken as a sign that he did not want to harm chances for a compromise settlement. It is already clear that one of the main problems emerging here in the discussion on a new power-sharing formula between Christians and Moslems is how to satisfy the demands of the Shiites, who have emerged as a powerful new military and political bloc. There is concern among some conference officials that Amal leader Berri will not obtain enough from the talks here to satisfy his more radical Shiite followers. This, they fear, could lead to the upset of whatever tentative settlement may be reached here. None of the participants other than Jumblatt has even hinted at any basic change in the existing system of sharing power between a Maronite president, Sunni prime minister and Shiite head of Parliament--the unwritten agreement reached in the 1943 "national pact." Yet the Shiites are now Lebanon's largest community, constituting about a third of the 3.5 million population, and are effectively in military and political control of all west Beirut after their Amal militia's victory over the Army there last month. The only additional power being offered to the Shiites under the existing proposals is a larger number of deputies in the Parliament, either through a 50-50 split between Moslems and Christians, as some suggest, or a nonsectarian system of proportional representation, as the Druze and Shiites demanded today. The two groups also proposed that the prime minister's position be strengthened by making it impossible for the president to dismiss him and by stipulating that the Parliament must select him. But unless there is a change in the 1943 pact, the prime minister would remain a Sunni. After a 90-minute session this morning, the conference broke up for private bilateral consultations among the four Christian and five Moslem participants. Haddad said it was hoped a common program for reforms could go before the full conference Thursday for final discussion and approval. He also said Syria's Khaddam was playing an active role as a "mediator" and "constructive participant" to help arrange a solution. It is widely believed that in the end he will play the crucial role in bringing the two sides together and forcing upon them some kind of compromise. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Picture, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met privately with President Gemayel Thursday. AP Copyright 1984 The Washington Post