BEIRUT, 21 October 2007 — Lebanon’s Parliament is likely to delay electing a president next week because no compromise candidate has been found by rival pro- and anti-Syrian groups, a political source said yesterday. It would be the second postponement in electing a president, a hurdle to resolving an 11-month crisis pitting the anti-Syrian ruling majority against the opposition, led by pro-Syrian Hezbollah.
It is the worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war and there are concerns that if no president is elected before the term of pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud expires on Nov. 23, Lebanon may end up with two rival governments and bloodshed. “It is expected that the session will not be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23, in order to continue negotiations on a compromise candidate,” the source told Reuters yesterday.
Opposition MPs boycotted Parliament on Sept. 25 to prevent a two-thirds quorum and thwart anti-Syrian factions, which have a razor-thin majority, from electing a new head of state. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s backers, including the United States want to replace Lahoud with one of their own.
Syrian troops first intervened in Lebanon to end its civil war and Damascus dominated Lebanese politics until the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri in February 2005. Damascus was forced by political upheavals after the Hariri assassination to withdraw its forces after a 29-year military presence.
Seven other anti-Syrian figures have been killed since the Hariri assassination, including most recently MP Antoine Ghanem. Leading Lebanese anti-Syrian figures blame Damascus for the killings, a charge Damascus denies.
Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition want to deny the presidency to their rivals, whom they regard as puppets of the United States.
The foreign ministers of France, Spain and Italy meet with Lebanese leaders yesterday to press for a resolution to the crisis over choosing a president.
After meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the opposition Shiite Amal group, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said they brought a “message of unity and sovereignty of Lebanon and a message of the necessity of completing the Lebanese presidential election.”
The three ministers are due to meet Siniora and the influential Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. Earlier, the ministers met their respective UN peacekeeping contingents who are part of a UNIFIL force which was expanded last year as part of a UN Security Council resolution which halted a war between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel.
UNIFIL has been the target of attacks, the most significant of which killed 6 UN peacekeepers from the Spanish battalion in June.
On Friday, Saad Al-Hariri, the son and political heir of the late Hariri, and Berri met for the first time since before the Muslim Eid holidays and discussed names of potential candidates.
“Today is an important and historical visit,” Moratinos said at a brief press conference at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqura where the three ministers visited their countries’ contingents.
“The three Euro-Mediterranean countries came together with the same purpose — to help, assist and to commit themselves for peace and stability in Lebanon. It’s a very strong sign that the three countries come at a very timely moment where Lebanon has to look forward for hope and peace in Lebanon and the region,” he added.
