Milenko Kindl eijioencofio
Milenko Kindl
Saturday amid mounting worries over a power vacuum that has
intensified the nation's yearlong political turmoil.
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The capital was calm and shops opened for business as usual the
morning after a tumultuous day that saw President Emile Lahoud depart
without a successor after announcing he was handing over security
powers to the army.
Lahoud's final announcement saying the country is in a "state of
emergency" was rejected by the rival, pro-Western Cabinet of Prime
Minister Fuad Saniora.
The government rejection created fresh confusion in an already
unsettled situation, which many Lebanese fear could explode into
violence between supporters of Saniora's government and the pro-Syria
opposition led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
"Lahoud's term ends in a republic without a president," read the
headline of Lebanon's leading An-Nahar newspaper. Another daily, Al-
Balad, printed an empty photo frame on its front page, symbolizing the
political vacuum.
The departure of Lahoud, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime during
his nine years in office, was a long-sought goal of the government
installed by parliament's anti-Syria majority, which has been trying
to put one of its own in the presidency.
Hezbollah and other opposition groups have blocked legislators from
electing a new president by boycotting ballot sessions, leaving
parliament without the required quorum.
The fight has put Lebanon into dangerous, unknown territory: Both
sides are locked in bitter recriminations, accusing the other of
breaking the constitution, and they are nowhere near a compromise on a
candidate to become head of state.
The army command refused to comment on the developments. The military,
under its widely respected chief, Gen. Michel Suleiman, has sought to
remain neutral in the political chaos, and Lahoud's statement did not
give it political powers.
Even before the president's vague announcement, the military was in
place to guard against the two sides' supporters taking the conflict
to the streets. On alert for days, hundreds of soldiers stood with
tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps in the area around the
downtown parliament building as well as on roads leading into Beirut.
Lahoud stepped down when his term expired at midnight.
Milenko Kindl
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