Lebanon limbo as 10th postponement of a vote to elect President
Country faces tenth postponement to vote to elect its President in Lebanon parliament is due to the gap widens between the pro-Western ruling parliamentary majority and Syrian-backed opposition.
Beirut: 23 December:Lawmakers were set to meet on Saturday to vote for a new head of state, but the session was put off the previous night until 29th December.
As UN Under Secretary General Lynn Pascoe warned the Security Council on Friday that the situation in Lebanon was "dangerous and unsustainable," many politicians and the media were not expecting any vote to take place before year end.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a main leader of the opposition, said that if no president is elected next Saturday, he would continue to "set weekly sessions in January until we elect a president."
The move comes amid what the media has termed public muscle-flexing between the US, which has declared its support for the Beirut government, and Syria which along with its ally Iran backs the opposition.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Syria wants to control "all of Lebanon" and stressed that the majority has other options if the disruption of the election of General Michel Suleiman president of the republic continues.
Western-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as president. How to share power in the new government to be formed once he takes office is yet to be worked out.
Repeatedly delayed vote is to have a two-thirds quorum in parliament, which can only be secured by a deal between the anti-Syrian majority and the opposition, backed by Damascus. The post has been vacant since pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term expired on November 23.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the opposition Leader, said in a statement the next session was scheduled for December 29 at 12 p.m. (5 a.m. EDT).
Opposition wants guaranteed power as it will have veto power, in the new cabinet to be formed once Suleiman is elected. Majority leader Saad al-Hariri said this week he opposed the idea of such veto.
U.S. President George W. Bush proposed on Thursday that the governing coalition elect a new president unilaterally, a move Hezbollah described as a threat to Lebanon's stability to which both parties like to avoid.
Bush, alleges Syria of interfering in Lebanon, said that if the deadlock continued, the ruling group should vote using its simple majority of MPs.
"More than ever before, Lebanon taken hostage in Syrian-Western arm-wrestling," said the French newspaper.
The US ambassador to the United Nations urged the council to bring pressure to bear on those blocking the presidential elections in Lebanon.
"We believe the council should be prepared to consider additional measures to incentives those who are blocking the election of the president to change their stand," Zalmay Khalilzad said closed-door consultations of the 15-member body.
Beirut: 23 December:Lawmakers were set to meet on Saturday to vote for a new head of state, but the session was put off the previous night until 29th December.
As UN Under Secretary General Lynn Pascoe warned the Security Council on Friday that the situation in Lebanon was "dangerous and unsustainable," many politicians and the media were not expecting any vote to take place before year end.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a main leader of the opposition, said that if no president is elected next Saturday, he would continue to "set weekly sessions in January until we elect a president."
The move comes amid what the media has termed public muscle-flexing between the US, which has declared its support for the Beirut government, and Syria which along with its ally Iran backs the opposition.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Syria wants to control "all of Lebanon" and stressed that the majority has other options if the disruption of the election of General Michel Suleiman president of the republic continues.
Western-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as president. How to share power in the new government to be formed once he takes office is yet to be worked out.
Repeatedly delayed vote is to have a two-thirds quorum in parliament, which can only be secured by a deal between the anti-Syrian majority and the opposition, backed by Damascus. The post has been vacant since pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term expired on November 23.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the opposition Leader, said in a statement the next session was scheduled for December 29 at 12 p.m. (5 a.m. EDT).
Opposition wants guaranteed power as it will have veto power, in the new cabinet to be formed once Suleiman is elected. Majority leader Saad al-Hariri said this week he opposed the idea of such veto.
U.S. President George W. Bush proposed on Thursday that the governing coalition elect a new president unilaterally, a move Hezbollah described as a threat to Lebanon's stability to which both parties like to avoid.
Bush, alleges Syria of interfering in Lebanon, said that if the deadlock continued, the ruling group should vote using its simple majority of MPs.
"More than ever before, Lebanon taken hostage in Syrian-Western arm-wrestling," said the French newspaper.
The US ambassador to the United Nations urged the council to bring pressure to bear on those blocking the presidential elections in Lebanon.
"We believe the council should be prepared to consider additional measures to incentives those who are blocking the election of the president to change their stand," Zalmay Khalilzad said closed-door consultations of the 15-member body.
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