Word: gemayels
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...demands by Lebanese leftist and Muslim politicians that the voting be postponed until Israeli troops had withdrawn from Beirut, the deeply divided Parliament went ahead last week and elected Israel's chief military and political ally in Lebanon to a six-year term as President. He is Bashir Gemayel, 34, commander of the country's principal Christian militias and leader of the Phalangist Party. Gemayel was the only candidate for the post, largely because no other Christian leader dared to oppose him. He promptly declared that his election had been "a big achievement for our democracy," and pledged...
...Gemayel's task will be gravely complicated by Lebanon's crazy-quilt of political and religious factionalism. Under the terms of a national covenant worked out in 1943 when Lebanon became independent from France, the Christians are the dominant political force in Parliament, although the Muslims are now thought to outnumber them (no census has been taken since 1932). Moreover, both the Christians and the Muslims are divided into feuding sects. After the civil war ended in 1976, the Phalangists sought the support of the Israelis, who saw them as a strong and friendly force that could stabilize...
...tries to take control of his riven country, Gemayel also suffers from a more personal handicap, a reputation as a violent and ruthless strongman (see box). His stature was hardly helped by the brutal tactics that ensured his election last week...
...special session, so the meeting was moved to the Lebanese army's military academy at Fayadiyeh in the hills above the city, deep within Christian-controlled territory. When only 56 deputies showed up for the crucial vote, six short of the 62 required for a quorum, Gemayel militiamen went into action. After what one aide described as a number of "forceful" telephone calls, several cars pulled up to the building. The reluctant deputies were hustled into the chamber by burly escorts...
...vote of 57 to 0, with five abstentions, Gemayel won the election. Even before the tally was read out, his followers launched a celebration as raucous as the fusillades that had saluted departing Palestinian fighters all week. Gunmen all over East Beirut fired their weapons into the air. Others detonated grenades in empty lots, while cars roared up and down the streets flying Lebanese flags and waving huge pictures of the President-elect. Gemayel held court at the family home, a 300-year-old estate at Bikfaya in the mountains northeast of Beirut, for two days before returning...