December 29, 2007	Saturday	Zilhaj 18, 1428

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s presidential election has been postponed from Saturday until the end of next week, a senior political source said on Friday, prolonging a power vacuum that threatens to further destabilise the country.

This would be the 11th delay to an election first due to have been held more than three months ago, deepening Lebanon’s worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

While rival leaders have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as a consensus candidate for the presidency, they are still wrangling over how to share power once he takes office.

“Complications in regional and international negotiations and the severing of domestic talks contributed to the delay of tomorrow’s session until the end of next week,” the source said.

Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said: “It appears to us that there will be no session tomorrow.”

The vote cannot take place without a two-thirds quorum in parliament, which can only be secured by a deal between the anti-Syrian ruling coalition and the Damascus-backed opposition.

Political sources said no progress was made in reconciling the rival camps this week.

Both sides have increased the rhetoric, blaming each other for obstructing the election of Suleiman.—Reuters