Lebanon's parliament yesterday put off a session to elect a new president until next month after the legislature failed to muster enough lawmakers because of an Hezbollah-led opposition boycott.
The postponement had been expected after the opposition, led by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, vowed to boycott the session to block the US-supported majority from electing a president from their own ranks.
Mohammed Kabbani, a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, said there were more than 65 lawmakers, a simple majority, but less than 85 - the necessary two-thirds quorum - in attendance when the announcement was made.
Instead of electing a president yesterday, the gathering turned into one of consultation. Opposition-aligned parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, met with Saad Hariri, the leader of the largest bloc.
Yesterday's security dragnet by several thousand soldiers and policemen was aimed at allowing anti-Syrian lawmakers from the parliamentary majority to move safely from a nearby heavily guarded hotel where they had taken refuge fearing assassination.
Fears of another attack were high after the slaying last Wednesday of pro-government lawmaker Antoine Ghanem. It fueled accusations by government supporters that Syria is targeting members of the ruling coalition, a claim denied by Damascus.
Lawmakers began arriving yesterday morning in vehicles with dark-tinted windows under heavy guard, with at least one policeman sitting inside. Some members of the majority wore white and red scarves on their shoulders, a symbol of the 2005 campaign of protests that drove Syrian forces out of Lebanon in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Even without the tensions, the attempt to choose a successor to President Emile Lahoud before he steps down on November 24 has become a struggle between the anti-Syrian government coalition, led by US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and the opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
More than a dozen declared or undeclared candidates are vying for the post, three of them members of the pro-government camp and one from the opposition.
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a leading member of the governing coalition, said the postponement was "to give an opportunity to efforts to reach consensus" on the divisive issue. All 68 legislators from the majority attended.
"We came to protect the independence and to preserve the blood of the martyrs," said Farid Mekary, deputy speaker who is with the anti-Syrian majority.
Walid Jumblatt, a leading member of the majority, was more hardline: "I don't believe in dialogue with murderers," referring to those who are protecting the Iranian and Syrian regimes.
As expected, the opposition - with 57 members - denied the 128-member legislature a two-thirds quorum by having lawmakers stay away from the building or in their offices. Two legislators have declared they were with neither side on the presidential issue.
The postponement had been expected after the opposition, led by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, vowed to boycott the session to block the US-supported majority from electing a president from their own ranks.
Mohammed Kabbani, a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, said there were more than 65 lawmakers, a simple majority, but less than 85 - the necessary two-thirds quorum - in attendance when the announcement was made.
Instead of electing a president yesterday, the gathering turned into one of consultation. Opposition-aligned parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, met with Saad Hariri, the leader of the largest bloc.
Yesterday's security dragnet by several thousand soldiers and policemen was aimed at allowing anti-Syrian lawmakers from the parliamentary majority to move safely from a nearby heavily guarded hotel where they had taken refuge fearing assassination.
Fears of another attack were high after the slaying last Wednesday of pro-government lawmaker Antoine Ghanem. It fueled accusations by government supporters that Syria is targeting members of the ruling coalition, a claim denied by Damascus.
Lawmakers began arriving yesterday morning in vehicles with dark-tinted windows under heavy guard, with at least one policeman sitting inside. Some members of the majority wore white and red scarves on their shoulders, a symbol of the 2005 campaign of protests that drove Syrian forces out of Lebanon in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Even without the tensions, the attempt to choose a successor to President Emile Lahoud before he steps down on November 24 has become a struggle between the anti-Syrian government coalition, led by US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and the opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
More than a dozen declared or undeclared candidates are vying for the post, three of them members of the pro-government camp and one from the opposition.
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a leading member of the governing coalition, said the postponement was "to give an opportunity to efforts to reach consensus" on the divisive issue. All 68 legislators from the majority attended.
"We came to protect the independence and to preserve the blood of the martyrs," said Farid Mekary, deputy speaker who is with the anti-Syrian majority.
Walid Jumblatt, a leading member of the majority, was more hardline: "I don't believe in dialogue with murderers," referring to those who are protecting the Iranian and Syrian regimes.
As expected, the opposition - with 57 members - denied the 128-member legislature a two-thirds quorum by having lawmakers stay away from the building or in their offices. Two legislators have declared they were with neither side on the presidential issue.
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