Suleiman Says he'd Challenge Extension of his Own Term

President Michel Suleiman revealed that he would challenge the extension of his mandate if the parliament took such a move amid soaring political tensions and the failure to form a new government.

In remarks to An Nahar daily published Wednesday, Suleiman said: “The Constitution is clear that a government should assume its Constitutional responsibilities and prepare for the presidential elections as soon as possible.”

Suleiman, whose mandate expires in May 2014, denied that any political party was trying to create a vacuum by putting obstacles to the formation of the new cabinet.

Asked what measures he would take if agreement was reached to extend his term, Suleiman said laughing: “I will challenge the extension.”

The president also denied during talks with several officials, who visited him lately, that the efforts exerted by him and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam had reached a dead-end.

But he reiterated the need to form an all-embracing government in which no camp wields veto power.

His visitors quoted him as saying that the head of Saudi Intelligence Prince Bandar bin Sultan was not behind the obstruction of the cabinet formation process either directly or indirectly as claimed by some officials.

“As president I haven't heard of this obstruction,” he said.

Suleiman told his visitors that he did not object to a so-called roadmap proposed by Speaker Nabih Berri.

The speaker has called for the resumption of national dialogue at Baabda palace for a period of at least five consecutive days to discuss the form and policy statement of the future cabinet, revive talks on a new electoral law, and support the military to deal with arms in the northern city of Tripoli and salvage the eastern Bekaa Valley and the northern border with Syria from the “chaos of arms and gunmen.”

The initiative also includes a call to address a national defense strategy, a thorny issue that hasn't been resolved in the past years over differences on Hizbullah's arms.