(Reuters) – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian political coalition was in disarray on Thursday, with a key figure saying he could no longer work with President Emile Lahoud, another top ally of Damascus. Tensions boiled over a day after Prime Minister Omar Karami stepped down after he failed to agree a cabinet with pro-Syrian allies, deepening the worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. With Syrian forces streaming out of Lebanon in line with an April 30 deadline for an end to Damascus’s 29-year-old military and intelligence presence, its allies in Beirut are increasingly squabbling over how to move forward.
Political sources said among the frontrunners for the job were former minister Najib Mikatti and current minister Adnan Qassar, both wealthy businessmen who are moderate politicians with good ties to Syria but acceptable to the opposition.
Caretaker Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh warned that postponing the elections could lead to violence and called for the polls to be held on schedule.
“I’m for holding elections… It’s not that important if we win or lose,” he told reporters. “If we don’t reach the stage of an election that would reflect the public’s will, then we might arrive at a situation… that would lead to violence.”
Lebanese opposition leaders accuse pro-Syrian officials of trying to delay the vote, in which the opposition is expected to benefit from popular sympathy after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on February 14.
STREET PROTESTS
An opposition statement warned against delaying the polls, and said it could call for street protests unless the government situation was resolved next week. Anti-Syrian demonstrations in central Beirut over the past two months forced the government to resign and put pressure on Syria to pull out its troops.
Franjieh, a friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been accused by some officials of foiling Karami’s efforts to form a government by insisting on the health ministry portfolio and another cabinet post for an ally.
But he strongly denied this and took a swipe at Lahoud.
“I will certainly not enter another government during the term of President Emile Lahoud,” said Franjieh, who like the president is a Maronite Christian. “Every experience I’ve had with the president has led me to disappointment.”
Karami announced after his resignation on Wednesday that he was leaving a coalition of pro-Syrian politicians and groups.
Political sources have said the elections could be pushed back by weeks or months by the delay in forming a government.
But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she saw Karami’s resignation as “an opportunity to move forward.”
“Further delays are unnecessary… We expect the consultative process required to form a new cabinet will take place immediately,” she said in Washington, reiterating the White House call for elections by the end of May.
The Lebanese parliament’s four-year term ends on May 31. The constitution requires polls be called at least a month before voting day.
If elections are not held in May, parliament, currently dominated by pro-Syrian legislators, can extend its term by several months to avoid a political vacuum.
