Lebanon's controversial president Emile Lahoud intends to hand over the presidency to the army when his term expires on November 23, in the event his replacement is not elected by the parliament, Arab sources told Al Hayat newspaper The same sources reported that Lahoud said that he will under no circumstances hand over the presidency to the government, because Siniora is a sunni Muslim and the presidency is for the Christian Maronites. Lahoud did not disclose how he intends to hand over the presidency to the army, specially since the constitution stipulates that the government should take over the presidency in case the position becomes vacant and until a president is elected.The same Arab sources told al Hayat that the western allies of Lebanon prefer to have the election on time and also prefer not to name any favorite candidate, since they want to leave this to the Lebanese , even though they may oppose certain names if they are proposed as consensus candidates.
The army chief, General Michel Sleiman has been mentioned by several sources as a consensus candidate for the presidency for a reduced term of 2 years and until new elections for the parliament take place , but the March 14 majority alliance are insisting on having a president from their alliance. General Michel Aoun is the only one who has announced his candidacy so far and Syria seems to be backing him all the way.