Beirut Election Postponed After Quorum Failure

Presidential elections were postponed today after hard-line Christians sympathetic to Israel missed a Parliament session at which a Syrian-backed candidate was favored to win election.

Interior Minister Abdullah Rassi accused the Lebanese Forces of “forcefully preventing” 15 members of Parliament from attending the meeting. The military denied that.

Christian radio stations said two shells slammed “near the premises” of President Amin Gemayel’s palace in suburban Baabda after the session was called off. They said there were no casualties.

The parliamentary boycott prevented the election of Suleiman Franjieh, a feudal lord opposed by Lebanon’s main Christian militia.

Only 38 Showed Up

It blocked a quorum for the crucial session. Only 38 Parliament members showed up, with 51 required for a quorum.

“The session has been called off,” Muslim Deputy Ali Abdullah told reporters as he left the building.

House Speaker Hussein Husseini said the date of the new session will be set after a new round of “speedy and extensive consultations with parliamentary blocs.”

British Ambassador Allan Ramsey told reporters that “some rethinking should be done in Damascus” as to when the the next election session will be held.

Hints Shift by Syria

He appeared to suggest that Syria, Lebanon’s main power broker, might reconsider its outright support for Franjieh in his bid to seek a new term. Franjieh was Lebanon’s president from 1970 to 1976.