Report: Lebanon Has to Overcome Regional, International Challenges to Hold Presidential Polls

The presidential elections in Lebanon could be postponed to September pending a number of regional and international developments, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Monday.

Concerned sources told the daily that Lebanon has to overcome three obstacles in order to be able to hold the polls.

The first of these obstacles is the development of American-Iranian ties in light of the Tehran's nuclear ambitions and its negotiations with western powers over its program.

Lebanon then has to wait for the results of the Iraqi general elections and finally the Syrian presidential elections.

The Iraqi elections are set for April 30, while a date for the Syrian polls has not been set yet, but media reports said they may be staged in June.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's term ends on July 17.

The Iraqi and Syrian elections will test Iran's influence in the region, explained al-Anba.

Once they are held, Lebanon will be able to hold the presidential elections, but probably not before September, said the daily.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends in May.

A parliamentary session to hold the elections has been scheduled for Wednesday, amid concerns that the necessary quorum will not be met.

Speaker Nabih Berri had stated that the conditions to hold the elections are “not ripe yet.”

The deadline to elect a president ends on May 25.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea is the only official to so far submit his nomination for the presidency.

M.T.

H.K.