Lebanon MPs called to elect new president Sept 25

BEIRUT, Sept 5 (Reuters) Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri formally invited lawmakers today to convene on September 25 to choose a new president, but a deep political crisis means the vote is unlikely to go ahead then.

Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has said he would appoint an interim government headed by the army chief if rival Lebanese factions cannot agree on a new head of a state before the presidential term ends on November 23.

The Lebanese constitution says a new president must be elected between September 24 and November 23. Berri urged MPs to attend the session to pick a successor to Lahoud.

But there are no signs of an end to the bitter political conflict between the governing coalition, which is backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and an opposition including Hezbollah, supported by Iran and Syria.

The opposition, which also includes Berri's Amal movement, last week called for a presidential candidate acceptable to both sides.

The governing coalition has yet to respond to the idea.

Without a consensus candidate, opposition lawmakers will not attend the parliamentary session, meaning a two-thirds quorum required for the vote will not be met. The governing coalition has only a slim majority in the chamber.

The standoff over the presidency is the latest stage in a political conflict that has paralysed government since November and is Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

The presidency must be occupied by a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an influential member of the governing coalition, had previously said the majority has the right to elect a new head of state in November without the two-thirds quorum.

Such a step would be rejected by the opposition. Hezbollah has warned it would take Lebanon towards ''partition''.

Lahoud has threatened to install an interim government headed by the army chief if parliament failed to elect a new president with the two-thirds quorum.

Such a step would be rejected by the governing coalition and probably leave Lebanon with two governments.

Lebanon witnessed a similar scenario in 1988 when former President Amin Gemayel named then army chief Michel Aoun to a head a military government in conflict with the existing cabinet. Aoun was eventually driven out by Syrian forces.

The opposition has also been calling for veto power in the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and has pressed its demands with an open-ended demonstration which has closed off much of central Beirut since December.

REUTERS LPB KN1850