Once the Promised Land for Pluralistic Democracy, Lebanon Has Turned Into a Playground for Foreign Powers
The Lebanese Parliament failed on Monday in its sixth attempt to elect a new president since President Michel Suleiman’s term ended two weeks ago.
The deadlock reflects the spillover from Syria’s civil war. Politicians supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad boycotted Monday’s parliamentary session, depriving it of a quorum.
Political power in Lebanon is divided among religious communities, with the presidency allocated to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker’s post to a Shi’ite Muslim and the prime minister’s to a Sunni Muslim. Overlying all this is the competition between Syria’s Assad, now a surrogate for Iran, and the Saudi inspired groups. Speaker Nabih Berri said that without agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran, supporters of the major factions, there is little prospect of agreement on a consensus candidate.
“This (presidential) vacancy and its impact on the other constitutional institutions will affect confidence and economic growth,” he told a conference in Beirut.