A senior member of the Syrian-backed Hizbullah is blaming the United States for the current political crisis in Lebanon, which has been without a president since last Friday.
Washington has blocked any attempts to reach a consensus, Hizbullah’s number two, Na’im Qasim, said in Beirut on Sunday.
The U.S. labels Hizbullah a terror organization and has insisted that any presidential candidate must be committed to implementing international resolutions such as the disarming of Hizbullah.
Qasim also said the U.S.-backed government in Lebanon, headed by Fouad Siniora, was unconstitutional since Shi’ites were not represented in the cabinet.
The political crisis reached a critical stage on Friday, when the term of former president Emile Lahoud ended, and the rivaling parties had still not reached an agreement on a candidate to replace him.
The cabinet has temporarily assumed the powers of the presidency.
There are fears that the current impasse could lead to the formation of two rival administrations, and possibly pull the country back into a civil war, similar to the war that ended in 1990.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah has added a new demand to the criteria of presidential candidates, insisting the new president supports Hizbullah in its fight against Israel.
The Western-backed government, which also has a majority in the parliament, has been unable to reach an agreement over a compromise presidential candidate with the Hizbullah-led opposition, which is backed by Syria.
The next parliament session to elect a president is scheduled for November 30. The opposition has boycotted previous parliamentary votes and prevented the required quorum for the vote from being reached.
So far, the political vacuum has not sparked any major outbreaks of violence, as initially expected, but the situation remains a touchy topic in Lebanon. Al-Jazeera reported that several eateries and shops in the capital have put up signs requesting that their customers refrain from talking politics on the premises.