Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday officially called for a special session on September 25 to elect a new president for a country mired in political crisis. "(Berri) called for a general assembly at 10:30 am (0730 GMT) on Tuesday September 25 in order to elect a new president of the republic," his spokesman said.The vote for a successor to Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud has exacerbated the country's political crisis which has split Beirut into pro- and anti-Damascus camps. If the necessary two-third majority quorum - or at least 86 members present in the 128-seat parliament -- is not guaranteed on September 25, Berri will have to call for another session before Lahoud's term expires on November 24. "We hope that you attend the session," Berri told MPs in the official invitation, the spokesman said.
On May 10, Berri said he would call for a parliament session on September 25 "provided we have a two-third majority quorum." To muster the necessary quorum, a compromise must be reached by the feuding parties in Lebanon, as the ruling coalition of Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Saniora controls only 69 seats in the house.
Lahoud's mandate was extended for three years in September 2004 under a controversial constitutional amendment passed with the support of Syria, which at the time was the power-broker in Lebanon. While the anti-Syrian camp holds the majority in parliament, the Hizbullah-led opposition walked out of the Saniora cabinet in November.
Berri, who himself heads the pro-Syrian Amal Movement, has since refused to convene parliament on the grounds that the rump Saniora government was no longer legitimate. Several candidates from the rival camps have said they plan to run for president, a post reserved for a Maronite Christian in line with the sectarian distribution of political powers.