Lebanon’s parliament on Friday voted to extend its mandate and delay elections after failing to adopt a new electoral law at a time of deep divisions over the war in neighbouring Syria.
The motion for a 17-month extension, submitted by independent Christian MP Nicolas Fattouche, was passed unanimously by 98 members of the 128-seat house who attended, with rival camps blaming each other for the delay.
“The term of the mandate of the legislature will be modified on an exceptional basis to end on November 20, 2014,” rather than June 20 as scheduled, it reads.
The motion to extend the normal four-year term between elections was due to “the security situation in several Lebanese regions that gives rise to political escalation and division which often take on confessional forms”.
“Security and political tensions prevent the holding of an election campaign,” it said.
Fuad Siniora, the opposition head in parliament, explained: “We were forced to vote on this bad project to avoid a vacuum and after unrest in several regions and the serious negative development” of Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syria conflict.