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BEIRUT: Lebanese politicians have agreed on the shape of a new coalition cabinet and will complete the allocation of ministerial portfolios within days, both Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier – designate Saad Hariri said Wednesday. Hariri aims to form a coalition cabinet which includes his “March 14” alliance with a rival coalition including the powerful Hizbullah and its allies. Berri said only “technical issues” remained, such as distributing ministerial portfolios and assigning minis
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BEIRUT: Deliberations over government formation this week will focus on the distribution of ministerial portfolios among various groups, a source close to the opposition told The Daily Star on Monday. The source revealed the possibility of a tripartite meeting gathering President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri “in the next 48 hours to conclude the agreement on a national-unity cabinet.”
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BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will kick off on Monday discussions on the distribution of ministerial portfolios in the next government, several media reports said on Sunday. Sleiman said on Saturday that the cabinet’s formation process was “taking time” since the government was being shaped for the first time away from foreign intervention and pressure.l
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BEIRUT: Phalange party head Amin Gemayel and Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh expressed their joint commitment on Sunday to strengthening the Christians’ role in Lebanon and the Middle East so as to put an end to the past era of “[Christian] depression and marginalization.”
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BEIRUT: Prospects diverged on Wednesday with regard to the timing of the next cabinet’s formation and its structure between opposition allies, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun. While Berri expressed optimism regarding the quick formation of the next cabinet and denied claims that the opposition called for veto power, Aoun demanded that the minority be granted proportional representation when it comes to the cabinet’s structure.
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BEIRUT: Both the parliamentary majority and the opposition expect a delay in the formation of the upcoming cabinet, media reports suggested on Tuesday. Sources from both coalitions said Hizbullah has demanded veto power in the next cabinet, but they confirmed that the party wanted “no guarantees on its arms or the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),” according to reports published in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai on Tuesday.
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BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed on Sunday that discussions to form the next cabinet were ongoing so as to reach an agreement on a structure that guarantees "real partnership." After talks with President Michel Sleiman at the Baabda Palace, Hariri said he aimed to form a national-unity cabinet that comprised all major political parties in order to resolve the country's economic and social issues, as well as to face Lebanon's future challenges.
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BEIRUT: Hizbullah wants "no guarantees" about its weapons or the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in exchange for joining the next government, the party's leader announced on Friday. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that Hizbullah was only interested in real partnership, and had avoided setting down concrete formulas for Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, who was charged with forming a cabinet three weeks ago.
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BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Future Movement figures expressed optimism on Wednesday with reference concerning the formation of the upcoming national unity cabinet before the end of the month. Following talks with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Parliament, Berri told reporters that "nothing prevents the formation of a new Cabinet before the end of the month. The government would be formed in due time," he added.
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BEIRUT: Phalange Party head Amin Gemayel accused the opposition on Tuesday of plotting to push "radical changes" to Lebanon's political regime. After talks with visiting Colombian Vice President Francesco Santos Gemayel lashed out at the opposition accusing it of attempting to divide Lebanon into sectarian cantons, following his meeting.
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Hariri 'not willing' to give opposition veto power in the new Lebanese government.
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Beirut - As expected MP Nabih Berri was reelected as the speaker of The Lebanese parliament for the fifth term and Farid Makari was reelected as his deputy. What was not expected was the low number of votes attained by both. Berri is reportedly angry for receiving less than 100 votes and has been pointing fingers at the al Mustaqbal bloc members accusing them of breaching an agreement he reached with Hariri.
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A controversial newcomer to Moroccan politics, the Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in Friday's communal elections. Experts believe the results show that voters are regaining faith in politics.
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According to the official results for the presidential elections in Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reelected with a vast majority for a second turn in the first round of the elections.
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Despite some incidents in Kabylie and protests by opposition parties who have questioned the official turnout figures, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won re-election with 90% of the vote.
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The new Israeli Government with Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister and all the ministers.
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On 10th of February 2009 Israelian voters elected their new parliament, the Knesset. Today the official election results were published.
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Tehran - Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former moderate president, yesterday announced he would stand in the June presidential election as the country's beleaguered reformists attempt to deprive Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad of a second term.
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Although controversial and polemic, Sara Roy's July 2007 reflections on Hamas present a picture of a complex organization that should invite a sophisticated policy response, from openDemocracy. (Originally published in the Middle East Policy Council Journal)
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Beirut - Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt criticized the verbal attacks against Egypt and other Arab states and called for focusing on uniting the Palestinian factions in order to confront the Israeli aggression against Gaza.
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By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Marrakech
Liberal politicians from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania met for the first time in Marrakech last week to discuss accelerating the Arab Maghreb Union.
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By Ayhan Simsek for Southeast European Times in Ankara
A fierce battle for influence in Kurdish-dominated regions pits Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, which hopes for a strong reform mandate, against a party linked to PKK terrorists.
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“Democratic Transition is still at the embryonic stage and is more visible in countries that are keen to project a positive image of modernization. Progress achieved in constitutional, administrative and other kinds of formal steps to reform remains unmatched by practices and progress on the ground”: this represents one of the key conclusions of the recently launched State of Reform in the Arab World 2008.
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By Fredrik Dahl
ImageTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hold its 2009 presidential election on June 12, when conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely expected to stand for a second four-year term despite criticism over his economic policies.
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Please note that some election dates are provisional and may change. Every effort will be made to keep this page updated if any changes occur.
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Middle East, a term traditionally applied by western Europeans to the countries of South West Asia, lying West of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India and North Africa.
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