The Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition party Hezbollah on Sunday contested the parliament-backed government's decision to take charge of running Lebanon as a result of the presidential vacuum. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government "does not exist, cannot rule and cannot take over from the presidency," Hezbollah's number two Naim Qassem said Lebanon is now "without an executive power," he said, reiterating the opposition's stand that the government lost its legitimacy when all its Shiite cabinet members resigned in 2006."Some people say the illegitimate government has taken over from the presidency, but this would only have been possible if the government was constitutional, legal and legitimate," Qassem said. "Only then could it temporarily take over (presidential powers) ... but it is considered illegitimate," he said during a ceremony in Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburbs.