By Xinhua
Beirut : Lebanon’s presidential election will be further delayed from Nov. 12 to Nov. 21, Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said in a statement on Saturday.
Berri decided to postpone the election on Nov. 12 to Nov. 21 to give time for “more negotiations in a bid to reach an consensus ona new presidential candidate,” said the statement released by the parliament.
Meanwhile, Berri also issued a joint statement with majority leader Saad Hariri asking Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir to sponsor a meeting of Maronite leaders and propose a list of candidates, local Naharnet news website reported.
Berri and Hariri, in the joint statement issued after their meeting on Saturday, pleaded with Sfeir to sponsor a meeting of “major Maronite leaders with the aim of proposing a list of candidates for the presidential office on a consensus base.”
It was the third postponement for the presidential election. Sessions called for September and October were both postponed as the feuding political camps failed to find a mutually-acceptable candidate.
Lebanese ruling coalition and the opposition have been separated by a wide chasm since last November when six of the latter’s ministers resigned from the government led by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora
Lebanese lawmakers have to choose a candidate before Nov. 24 to replace the current President Emile Lahoud, whose mandate will expire on Nov. 23 after an extension.