Beirut – Hezbollah and its opposition allies blocked the election of Lebanon’s next president Tuesday, boycotting a parliamentary session to prevent the backers of the anti-Syrian government from choosing a head of state from their own ranks.
But hard-liners on the government side vowed to force through their choice if a compromise is not reached by the next parliament session on Oct. 23, a step that would escalate the political standoff and – some fear – split the country between two rival governments.
The attempt to elect a president is the latest potentially dangerous turn in Lebanon’s months-long power struggle between the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the opposition led by Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran.
Tuesday’s gathering at parliament took place under tight security after last week’s assassination of Antoine Ghanem, a lawmaker from Sani ora’s ruling coalition. It was the latest in a series of slayings of anti-Syrian figures, and coalition members fear more. The coalition blamed Syria for the assassinations, an accusation Damascus denies.
Thousands of soldiers and police clamped down on downtown Beirut around the parliament building, escorting lawmakers as they pulled up in vehicles with dark-tinted windows. Many came from a heavily guarded hotel nearby where they have been staying for protection.
Saniora’s allies are determined to install an anti-Syrian in the presidency, hoping to end one of the last vestiges of Damascus’ political control of neighboring Lebanon. The outgoing president, Emile Lahoud, whose term ends Nov. 24, is a staunch ally of Syria, which dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years until 2005.
But Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition have vowed to block any candidate they do not approve – and Tuesday they followed through on their threat to prevent the two-thirds quorum of the 128-seat legislature required for a vote.
When a parliament official rang a bell three times to call lawmakers into session, the 68 members of the government coalition were in the chamber, but most opposition members stayed out in the hallways. Pro-government lawmakers put pictures of Ghanem and other legislators slain since 2005 on vacant opposition seats in the chamber. The session was postponed until Oct. 23.
Both sides quickly began talks to try to find a compromise candidate.
For the first time in months, opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met with Saad Hariri, leader of the largest anti-Syrian bloc. Hariri described the meeting as “positive,” saying he will continue contacts to reach an agreement on the election of “a president for all the Lebanese.”
