Lebanon's tumultuous political scene suffered another setback Tuesday when the opposition led by Hezbollah boycotted a crucial session to elect a new president, thereby delaying the vote by a month.
Lebanese lawmaker Antoine Ghanem, 64, was assassinated less than a week before the parliamentary vote to elect a new president.
(Hussein Malla/Associated Press)
Members of parliament aligned with the Syrian-backed Hezbollah movement refused to attend, meaning parliament was not able to reach the two-thirds quorum needed to carry out the vote.
The opposition has 57 members in the 128-member legislature, and decided not to attend the vote because they could not reach an agreement with the pro-Western government on who would succeed pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud by the time Lahoud steps down on Nov. 24.
The vote is now scheduled to happen on Oct. 23, the CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from Lebanon on Monday.
The anti-Syrian majority is eager to install a president from its own ranks to protect the country from Syria and Iran, but the opposition wants someone to protect Hezbollah's interests, Ayed said.
Downtown Beirut was sealed off by thousands of police officers and soldiers in preparation for Tuesday's parliamentary session, in the wake of last week's assassination of pro-government lawmaker Antoine Ghanem by a car bomb.
The government blamed Damascus for the killing, accusing supporters of Syria of targeting the ruling coalition. Damascus has denied the claim.
The security dragnet by several thousand soldiers and policemen aimed to allow anti-Syrian lawmakers from the parliamentary majority to move safely from a nearby heavily guarded hotel where they had taken refuge fearing assassination.
Traffic was diverted, restaurants were closed and police patrolled the streets.
Eleven declared or undeclared candidates are running for the post, three of them members of the pro-government camp and one from the opposition.
Syria has denied any involvement in the car bombing of Ghanem on a Beirut street last Wednesday, or in seven previous assassinations since 2005, including that of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in a massive car bombing.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
Internal Links
Video
- Nahlah Ayed reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:02)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
More World Headlines »
- Taliban, al-Qaeda behind Bhutto assassination: Pakistan government
- Pakistan's government has blamed al-Qaeda and the Taliban for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, claiming it intercepted a congratulatory message from a militant leader
- 2 helicopters land in Colombia on secretive hostage-rescue mission
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched a delicate and secretive operation on Friday to rescue three hostages from rebel-held areas of the Colombian jungle.
- Car bomb kills at least 14 in Baghdad market
- A car bomb detonated Friday in the middle of a busy market in central Baghdad, killing at least 14 people and wounding 64 others.
- South Africa's top presidential candidate charged with corruption: lawyer
- South Africa's ruling party leader, Jacob Zuma, has been indicted for corruption and will stand trial next year, his lawyer told the South African Broadcasting Corp. on Friday.
- Mourners overwhelm Bhutto funeral
- Hundreds of thousands of mourners converged on the ancestral village of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was laid to rest Friday beside her father's grave.
World Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window