Roundup: Lebanon enters third year of vacuum in presidency

Lebanon on Thursday entered its third year without a president as the vacuum in the presidency post, which started at the end of the six-year tenure of former President Michel Suleiman, does not seem to be ending soon due to the sharp division among the political parties in the country.

According to the constitution, the cabinet takes charge of running the country until a new president is elected.

The parliament has failed in 39 consecutive sessions to elect a new top leader due to the lack of the constitutionally required quorum that is two third of the 128-seat parliament.

Hezbollah's "Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc and the "Free Patriotic Movement" bloc are both boycotting the electoral sessions, in a move aimed at pressuring the election of the FPM leader MP Michel Aoun as president.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for the first electoral session on April 23, 2014, but none of nominees to the first post received the necessary votes to be elected.

The constitution stipulates that in the first round of voting, the president-elect should acquire two thirds of the parliament votes while a simple majority is required in the following electoral sessions.

The vacuum in the presidency led to a disruption of the cabinet's work. According to the constitution, any decision is to be approved by unanimity of the 24-minister cabinet led by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

The disruption of the cabinet's work also affected the parliament that has been unable to approve any legislative law.

However, the ongoing dialogue between the Sunni "al-Mustaqbal" movement led by former PM Saad Hariri and the Shiite Hezbollah led by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been partially able to diffuse the regional sectarian tension from reaching the country.

Speaker Berri has also called for a National Dialogue Table that has convened so far 18 times to solve the political crisis in the country.

The political deadlock engulfing the country coincides with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis and the escalating threats on the economic and security levels with the presence of more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees.

According to political analysts, there seem no solution in the near future for the country's political chaos, and they fear that with the escalating military confrontations in the region, Lebanon could not remain safe.

Political analyst and diplomatic expert Georges Alam said the presidential elections are related to the Syrian crisis.

"Linking the political solution in Lebanon with the regional solution would turn the vacuum in the presidency a long term issue that will have to wait for the end of the new mapping of the Middle East," he told Xinhua.

Alam explained that the problems in Lebanon start with a division about the role of Syria in the country and extend to the Saudi-Iranian disagreement.

As for Tarek Tarshishi, a political analyst and journalist, solving the presidential issue is linked with solving the regional crisis.

"The password is Russian-American, but Lebanon is not a priority for both powers for the time being," he said.

He said Lebanon has been put on the waiting list and the complications that further push the Lebanese apart would not help solving the domestic issues any time soon. Endit