DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nayla Moawwad, a two-term member of the Lebanese parliament, has made history by declaring her candidacy for her nation’s presidency, the first woman in the Arab world to run for a top political office.
The widow of Lebanese President Rene Moawwad is running on a politically dangerous platform of asking Syria to stop controlling political life in Lebanon — and counting on President Bush’s push for democracy in the region to give her campaign a boost.
“I want to create a public opinion to prove to Syria that people in Lebanon now want a president made in Lebanon,” she said from Beirut in a telephone interview.
Syria has been the main power broker in Lebanon since 1975, when it sent tens of thousands of troops to intercede in the then-raging civil war. Damascus still maintains thousands of troops in Lebanon and many of the country’s top politicians have close ties with Syria’s political and military leaders.
Lebanon’s unwritten constitution holds that the presidency belongs to the Christian Maronite community, one that traditionally has had an antagonistic attitude toward Syrian leaders.
Mrs. Moawwad, who contends that the current president, Emile Lahoud, has been too lenient in his relations with Syria, said she does not intend to antagonize Syrian leaders, only to make a point.
“Syrians know me too well to know that I have a firm belief that while Lebanon cannot be against Syria, it also cannot be controlled by Syria,” she said.
Mrs. Moawwad said she plans to travel to Syria “soon to explain my views.” But she remains reluctant to spell out those views in detail eight months before the elections.
So far, she is the only declared candidate, but she has heard that three or four male members of parliament are weighing their options.
Syrian officials have not reacted to Mrs. Moawwad’s declaration. Some Lebanese have blamed Damascus for the car-bomb assassination of her husband in 1989 only 17 days after he came to power.
Mrs. Moawwad, while privately anxious for as much help from the United States as possible, publicly says little about what she wants from Washington.
“I never ask for anything for myself. I ask anyone and everyone to help Lebanon,” she said. She plans to visit the United States soon and has already toured major European capitals.
Her supporters feel less obliged to be diplomatic.
“The United States has essentially said, ’This is a new day. This is a new time. We want a new Middle East,’” said one supporter who asked not to be identified. “Well, here is a new person who is trying to do what you want. Go out and support her.”
Mrs. Moawwad and her supporters hope in particular that the United States will continue to say, as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell did last year, that Syria must give up control of Lebanon and withdraw its troops.
“The United States supports an independent and prosperous Lebanon, free of all foreign forces. Lebanon has great potential. It could be a model for democracy and free trade in the region,” Mr. Powell said at a May 2003 press conference.
The candidate and her backers also hope to take advantage of an enlarged political space created by Mr. Bush’s proposed Greater Middle East initiative, which is to be laid out at a meeting of the Group of Eight industrial countries this summer.
The program is intended to promote democracy in the Middle East and establish bigger roles for women at all levels of society.
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