By Xinhua
Beirut : Rival Lebanese leaders called for a dialogue to ease the current political tension after the parliamentary presidential vote was postponed till Oct. 23.
A scheduled parliament session to elect a new head of state on Sept. 25 was delayed by Speaker Nabih Berri as a required two-thirds quorum was not met.
The postponement had been expected after the Hezbollah-led opposition vowed to boycott a quorum in the absence of a consensus candidate.
Following the abortive parliamentary session on Tuesday, Speaker Berri, a close ally of the opposition bloc, met twice with the pro-government parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri.
Berri told local daily As Safir on Wednesday that his meeting with the Hariri was friendly and encouraging.
He said he was optimistic over a solution to the current political tension, stressing that the issue could not be solved without cooperation of all parties concerned and an agreement among the Lebanese would be a victory for them all.
Sources close to Berri were quoted as saying that Berri will hold wide ranging negotiations with different parties, especially heads of parliamentary blocs.
Also on Tuesday, the pro-government parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri said that a president for all of Lebanon and the Lebanese will be found through dialogue with the opposition, adding that dialogue will ease the tension in the country.
“We aim to reach a consensus and believe that through dialogue with the opposition the situation will calm down,” The Daily Star on Wednesday quoted Hariri as saying.
Meanwhile, Change and Reform Bloc leader MP Michel Aoun issued what he dubbed “a national salvation initiative” calling on the leaders of all parliamentary blocs to meet and sit around a table to agree on various issues.
Aoun, a main leader of the opposition bloc and also a candidacy of the presidency, said that no one side could solve the problem alone.
The meeting is not to support his candidacy to the presidency, but rather for both sides to be honest with one another and help one another resolve the crisis, he added.
Lebanese Lawmakers have to choose a candidate before Nov. 24 to replace the current President Emile Lahoud, whose mandate had been extended. He should step down on Nov. 23 in line with the constitution.
A two-thirds majority is required for a candidate to be elected by parliament in the first round of voting. In the event of a second round a simple majority suffices.
Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war, with the government led by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and the Hezbollah-led opposition locked in a fierce power struggle.
The presidential event has caused widespread concern among the Lebanese, fearing further disarrays and possible eruption of violence.