Lebanese violence fears as leaders fail to elect president

Published on Saturday 24 November 2007 01:36

LEBANON'S parliament failed yesterday to grasp its last chance to elect a head of state before pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud leaves office at midnight, creating a vacuum that many fear could lead to violence.

Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite opposition leader, put off the vote for a fifth time because rival factions were deadlocked. He delayed the session for a week.

The delay means the presidency, always held by a Maronite Christian under Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, will be vacant for at least a week. Unless a consensus candidate emerges soon, the country could end up saddled with competing administrations as at the end of its 1975-90 civil war.

Prime minister Fouad Siniora's western-backed cabinet will assume presidential powers until a new head of state is elected, even though the opposition challenges its legitimacy.

Mr Lahoud, who has sworn not to hand over to the Siniora cabinet, was due to make a statement shortly before leaving office. He could entrust Lebanon's security to the army or take more drastic options that the government would reject.

French-led mediation efforts failed to resolve a dispute over the presidency which reflects a regional struggle pitting Washington against Syria and Iran, both allies of Hezbollah.

The US and its local allies blame Syria for the deadlock. Hezbollah and its Christian partners say the majority bloc wants to keep them from their rightful share of power. They accuse Washington of seeking to control Lebanon.

More than 100 lawmakers from both camps went to parliament in downtown Beirut, but opposition MPs did not enter the assembly chamber in line with a boycott declared a day earlier.

Before announcing the delay, Mr Berri held separate meetings with majority leaders Saad al-Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, a sign the rival camps have not yet burned their bridges. "We are for consensus and we will remain for consensus," Mr Hariri said.