Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has accused parliament speaker Nabih Berri of "hijacking" parliament and obstructing the election of a new president, a Saudi newspaper reported Monday. Berri, a leader of Lebanon's opposition which is backed by Syria and Iran, blocked the election by "selecting" one of six names submitted by influential Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as potential candidates for the presidency, Siniora was quoted by the Saudi daily Okaz as saying. "Speaker Berri chose one name instead of sending the whole list," he said.Siniora said the list proposed by Sfeir included three potential candidates who are not affiliated with either the ruling majority or the opposition. Berri should have "sent either the whole list or the three names not affiliated with either side," the premier added.
Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud left office at the end of his term on Friday after parliament failed to elect his successor amid continued deadlock between the government and the opposition. Although politicians have vowed to agree on a consensus candidate by the time MPs convene again for a vote next Friday, there has been no tangible progress, raising fears that Lebanon will slide into chaos if the political vacuum persists.
Siniora's government, considered illegitimate by the opposition since its six ministers quit a year ago, said on Saturday that it was taking charge of running the country in line with the constitution. But the opposition, spearheaded by Shiite militant group Hezbollah which fought last year's war with Israel, contested the government's interpretation of its constitutional authority.
In his remarks to Okaz, Siniora accused Berri of "hijacking" parliament for over a year by "closing it down ... under the pretext that the government is unconstitutional. This is the first time in history that parliament is hijacked and the parliamentary majority has to take cover."