Lebanon’s parliament gave a newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence on March 20, ending almost a year of political deadlock during which the country has been pulled further into the civil war in neighbouring Syria. The approval – by 96 of the 101 parliamentarians who attended the vote – was widely expected after the government reached a compromise last week on a policy statement following weeks of dispute that brought it to the verge of collapse.
The vote gave Lebanon a fully empowered government for the first time in more than a year, raising hopes of holding presidential elections before President Michel Suleiman’s mandate expires in May and finally conducting parliamentary polls that were postponed last year due to the political impasse.