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Lebanon Faces Presidential Vacuum as Countdown Begins


Hanan Awarekeh

Few hours only are separating Lebanon from the Presidential vacuum and Lebanese MPs are facing a deadline of midnight to appoint a new president. However, mediators fear rival camps will fail to reach a deal, plunging the country into a deeper political crisis. Repeated attempts to elect a new president over the past two months have been blocked.

On Thursday, visiting French and Italian envoys doubted that Lebanon's rival factions would agree on a presidential candidate hours before the critical vote was due. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who held marathon four days of mediation between rival sides in Beirut, said that "a miracle is still possible tomorrow but I think the issue is complicated." His Italian counterpart, Massimo D'Alema, predicted it would be "difficult" for Lebanon to elect a president Friday.
 

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Login to find out (November 23, 2007 at 3:29pm)
The army has increased its presence on the streets of Beirut and set up checkpoints, some schools have cancelled classes until Monday, and the ministry of interior has suspended all firearm permits until further notice. The military and police were put on alert for the past several days with leaves canceled and permits to civilians to bear arms put on hold. Security at key government buildings was also reinforced.
 
Login to find out (November 23, 2007 at 3:29pm)
According to Article 62 of the Lebanese constitution, if no candidate is elected before Lahoud's mandate expires, his powers are automatically transferred to the government as a whole, and in this case there would be a constitutional problem since six Lebanese opposition ministers resigned from the current unconstitutional government a year ago. So such step could not be accomplished and the country would suffer from a power vacuum.

Moreover, President Lahoud has vowed not to hand over power to Saniora?s unconstitutional government. Possible scenarios include Lahoud handing over power to the military chiefs, creating a rival government to hand power to, or even declaring a state of emergency. The political deadlock has already led to the vote being postponed four times since 25 September.
 
Login to find out (November 23, 2007 at 3:28pm)
The two, along with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, have struggled to find a breakthrough for Lebanon's presidential elections crisis. Hours before the deadline, it seemed they had not succeeded in convincing feuding Lebanese politicians to agree on a compromise candidate. The Lebanese deadlock is turning into a regional and international affair. The US, Russia, Syria and Iran are all intensely involved and there has been a lot of diplomatic shuttling between Damascus, Moscow, Tehran and Paris.

No compromise
The election of a president requires a two-thirds majority, which means that the ruling bloc cannot force its preferred candidate through parliament. A deal with the national opposition is therefore required.