BEIRUT: Lebanese parliamentarians failed yesterday in a last effort to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman before his term expires, leaving a political vacuum as the country struggles to cope with spillover from Syria’s civil war.
Parliament’s fifth attempt to vote for a new president was abandoned when deputies failed to reach a quorum yesterday, 48 hours before Suleiman is due to leave the presidential palace.
The deadlock stems from deep divisions, worsened by sectarian tensions over Syria’s conflict, between Lebanon’s two main political blocs: the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition which supports Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and the rival March 14 camp which backs Assad’s opponents.
“We are heading for a vacuum in the presidential palace,” parliamentarian Khaled El Daher told reporters after yesterday’s session which was boycotted by March 8 deputies because of the failure to agree on a consensus candidate.
The deadlock comes as Lebanon struggles to cope with more than 1 million refugees who fled neighbouring Syria and now form up to a quarter of the population, straining the economy and upsetting Lebanon’s delicate sectarian balance.
“The country is heading into the unknown and nobody knows whether this vacuum will be brief or prolonged,” March 14 parliamentarian Ahmed Fatfat told Reuters. “We have entered a new and dangerous phase”.
In the absence of an elected successor, Suleiman’s powers will pass to Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s government, which is also supposed to prepare for a parliamentary election later this year.
Reuters
