Lebanon’s Parliament Forced to Delay Presidential Elections

Lebanon’s presidential elections were postponed Thursday after Parliament failed to reach a quorum as a result of a boycott by hard-line Christians opposed to a Syrian-backed candidate who was favored to win.

Interior Minister Abdullah Rassi accused Christian militiamen of “forcefully preventing” 17 members of Parliament from attending the meeting to vote for former President Suleiman Franjieh, who has close ties to Syria.

“Some were forced by gunmen to go back home (in Christian East Beirut), and at least two deputies were detained,” Rassi said.

Rassi indirectly accused the Christian-led Lebanese army of complicity with the Christian militiamen, saying that it failed “to live up to its obligations in securing safe passage to all deputies.”

Half Show Up

Kazem Khalil, a Shia Muslim deputy who lives in East Beirut, also said he was “forbidden at gunpoint from leaving my house.”

Samir Geagea, commander of the Lebanese Forces, the nation’s strongest Christian militia group, denied the charges.

Only 38 out of 76 members of Parliament showed up for the session, thereby preventing the election of Franjieh, a Maronite Catholic who served as president from 1970 until 1976. The required quorum was 51.

“I shall set a date for a new session after speedy and extensive consultations with parliamentary blocs,” Speaker of Parliament Hussein Husseini told reporters following the session.

However, Christian militia leaders, who have called for Syrian troops to withdraw from war-torn Lebanon, have vowed to block the election of Franjieh as successor to President Amin Gemayel.

Franjieh’s campaign office Thursday said he will not drop out of the race.

30,000 Syrian Troops

Franjieh, who said that he intends to succeed Gemayel, has vowed to extend the Syrian military deployment in Lebanon to the Christian heartland, which is now controlled by the Lebanese army and Geagea’s militiamen north of Beirut. Damascus currently has more than 30,000 troops stationed in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Forces considered Franjieh’s proposed move as a “challenge to the Christian will,” and warned that it would lead to a new cycle of bloody violence between the Christians and Muslims.

The constitution stipulates that a president should be elected before Sept. 23, when Gemayel’s six-year term expires.