BEIRUT: Premier Najib Mikati's government won an overwhelming vote of confidence Wednesday after two-days of debate, and immediately scheduled the legislative elections to begin on May 29 and continue over the following three Sundays, dated June 5, 12 and 19.

The rapid developments followed the U.S. administration's warning early Wednesday against delaying Lebanon's elections beyond the constitutional timeframe of May 31, saying Speaker Nabih Berri's bid for a one-month postponement could force Lebanon down a "dangerous path leading to a constitutional crisis."

But before opening the Parliamentary session and before Mikati's government won the vote of confidence, Berri denied he had proposed the elections be delayed.

"I confirm to the Lebanese that the elections will begin on May 29," he said.

Despite U.S. President George W. Bush's veto over Berri's alleged bid, Parliament passed what has been dubbed "a reiterated, pressing law," drafted on the spot during a legislative session, extending the current Parliament's mandate for three weeks from May 31 to June 20.

The government won 110 to one with two abstentions.

No other Cabinet in Lebanon's history has been given such a high vote of confidence without actually offering any specific agendas or proposals in its policy statement.

The opposing vote came from Metn MP Antoine Haddad, with Metn MP Ghassan Mokheiber and Sidon MP Osama Saad abstaining, and 12 MPs absent from the proceedings.

The 128-members Parliament had shrunk to 125 with the loss of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and former Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan, as well as former chief of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Ali Khalil who died in a car accident on Beirut's southern highway last month.

For the first time since Hizbullah decided to enter the political fray in 1992, its 12 members of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc granted a vote of confidence. They usually abstain or withhold the vote.

Batroun opposition MP Butros Harb, who proposed the draft, said it was a simple legal loophole to avoid breaching the Constitutional deadline, something the international community and Lebanon's opposition have been firm about preventing.

Following strong objection to the special "mechanism"' that some MPs felt was a Constitutional violation, Mikati said: "The government withdraws its proposal to form a joint committee to devise a new election law," adding that Parliament was free to perform its sovereign authority and pass the law it finds appropriate.

Before the debate, representatives of major parliamentary blocs held side consultations to help solve any outstanding issues of controversy that could have obstructed the government's plans to call polls on time.

In addition, Mikati's firm stance regarding the election issue accelerated the voting process and facilitated passing the mandate-extension law.

Political sources said Berri had reached an agreement on the circumstances of the election with Hizbullah, opposition leader Walid Jumblatt and the Dignity parliamentary bloc loyal to slain former Premier Rafik Hariri late on Tuesday night.

The four political forces, which together dominate the chamber, agreed on the timing and on a joint proposal of the law organizing the poll.

During the debate, many MPs raised other issues concerning the general amnesty law, missing

Lebanese citizens and the fate of Lebanese prisoners in Syria, as well as other social, political and economic problems.

Harb affirmed the need to uncover the fate of those Lebanese who are still missing or imprisoned in Syrian jails.

Metn MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr tried to include a petition from Samir Geagea parliamentarians' to release the former warlord from prison, but Berri objected saying the session was to discuss the elections. He added: "We will have more time to discuss Geagea's case and the fate of other political prisoners in the coming days."

Former Parliament Speaker Hussein Husseini strongly criticized all attempts to promote an election law that contradicts the Taif Accord.

He said: "Going back to the electoral law of 1960, based on qadas or small voting districts, does not only mean violating the Constitution but is also a setback for national reconciliation and does not represent the public."

Husseini added the MPs' unlawful conduct made him feel he would have to resort to the UN organization to seek technical and know-how assistance to prevent what he called "a moral deterioration" in handling the fair representation of the Lebanese people in their Parliament.

Despite many MPs' long speeches on various issues unrelated to the policy statement, Mikati limited his answers to the questions and comments regarding the issue of the election law reiterating the government's stance of not proposing a new law.

In response to Mikati's comments, Berri asked the specialized committees to resume discussions, interrupted by Hariri's assassination, on the qada-based draft law offered by Omar Karami's government along other proposals that advocate the mohafaza with proportional representation.

Consequently, Parliamentary Committees will discuss the election law Thursday, and, if a compromise is reached, will call for a legislative Parliamentary session on the same day.

Mikati had said earlier he was determined to call for elections based on the valid law of 2000, based on mohafazat, if Parliament does not come up with a new law.

Being a strong advocate of the qada choice, President Emile Lahoud welcomed "with enthusiasm" the Parliament's "wise" decision to resume discussing the qada law, ignoring the other proposals that had been presented.

He also congratulated Mikati on receiving the vote of confidence and urged his government to "take advantage of this near unanimous support and work hard to fulfill its commitments and promises."