Hezbollah seeks veto power
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BEIRUT — No president will be elected in Lebanon unless the Hezbollah-led opposition gets veto power in the future government, the leader of the Shiite Muslim militant group declared Wednesday.
Hassan Nasrallah accused the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority of creating the current presidential deadlock by refusing a partnership with the Syrian-backed opposition.
“A solution lies in a partnership through a constitutional guarantee [and] through a veto power for the opposition, which represents more than half of the Lebanese people,” Nasrallah said in a television interview.
A parliamentary session to elect a new president was postponed for the 11th time on Dec. 28, with factions deadlocked over a constitutional amendment and the shape of a future government. A new session has been set for Jan. 12.
Anti-Syrian politicians hold a slim majority in parliament and support the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
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