Lebanon president vote delayed

BEIRUT – Lebanese leaders will postpone a parliamentary vote to elect a new president until Friday to give politicians more time to agree a successor to the pro-Syrian incumbent, whose term expires that day, a political source said.

Parliament had been due to convene today to elect the successor to President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires on Friday, but the senior political source told Reuters the vote would be delayed in the fourth postponement since September. Failure by politicians to agree on a new head of state would deepen a year-long political crisis and could result in two rival administrations – one opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon and the other backed by Damascus.Many fear violence could return to a country still rebuilding after its 1975-1990 civil war.The army boosted security and warned against internal violence.Soldiers tightened security in and around Beirut, manning roadblocks and deploying armoured vehicles around government buildings, a senior security source said.”The army has started security arrangements,” he said.”Any attack on security is national treason and any weapon directed internally is a treacherous weapon,” army chief General Michel Suleiman said in a statement to soldiers to mark Independence Day which falls on Thursday.Suleiman told the army to pay no attention to arguments “which have almost split the country into scattered parts”.The army is one of the few state institutions that has continued to function effectively during a conflict that has paralysed government.The fate of the presidency is the latest stage in a power struggle between the Western-backed governing coalition, which is deeply opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon, and the opposition supported by Damascus.Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition figure, and majority leader Saad al-Hariri have failed to agree on any of the names for president proposed by the head of the Maronite church.Hariri left for a trip to Moscow early on Tuesday.The head of state must be a Maronite according to the Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.Political sources say the governing coalition wants MP Robert Ghanem for the post while the opposition supports former minister Michel Edde.Agreement on the presidency is needed to guarantee a two-thirds quorum for the vote in parliament, where the governing coalition holds an absolute majority.Nampa-ReutersFailure by politicians to agree on a new head of state would deepen a year-long political crisis and could result in two rival administrations – one opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon and the other backed by Damascus.Many fear violence could return to a country still rebuilding after its 1975-1990 civil war.The army boosted security and warned against internal violence.Soldiers tightened security in and around Beirut, manning roadblocks and deploying armoured vehicles around government buildings, a senior security source said.”The army has started security arrangements,” he said.”Any attack on security is national treason and any weapon directed internally is a treacherous weapon,” army chief General Michel Suleiman said in a statement to soldiers to mark Independence Day which falls on Thursday.Suleiman told the army to pay no attention to arguments “which have almost split the country into scattered parts”.The army is one of the few state institutions that has continued to function effectively during a conflict that has paralysed government.The fate of the presidency is the latest stage in a power struggle between the Western-backed governing coalition, which is deeply opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon, and the opposition supported by Damascus.Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition figure, and majority leader Saad al-Hariri have failed to agree on any of the names for president proposed by the head of the Maronite church.Hariri left for a trip to Moscow early on Tuesday.The head of state must be a Maronite according to the Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.Political sources say the governing coalition wants MP Robert Ghanem for the post while the opposition supports former minister Michel Edde.Agreement on the presidency is needed to guarantee a two-thirds quorum for the vote in parliament, where the governing coalition holds an absolute majority.Nampa-Reuters