Hezbollah leaders have warned that the party would not recognize a president elected by a simple majority of parliament in case of a failure to reach the two- thirds quorum in the parliament required for the election of a president, local media reported on Saturday.

Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem said in an interview with Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper that any president elected without a two- thirds quorum of MPs will not be a president for all of Lebanon " but would be an impostor and we will call for him to stand trial for complicity in violating the Constitution."

He said a president elected by a simple majority will not be recognized by Hezbollah, "even if the (UN) Security Council and the whole world recognize him."

Like Qassem, Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad said that to achieve stability and national reconciliation, the ruling majority has to accept the terms of national partnership and call early elections to create a new government.

Mohammad Fneish, a Hezbollah leader who is one of the six pro- Syrian ministers resigned from the cabinet last November, told Al Hayat daily in an interview published on Friday that rival parties had to find an agreeable government formation before the presidential election starts.

"It is not possible that this (presidential election) happens in the midst of the current political divisions with one of the party (the ruling coalition) resorting to monopolizing power and relying on external support," he told the paper.

As announced by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday, Lebanon's MPs will assemble on Sept. 25 to elect a new president to succeed current President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires in November.

At least two thirds of the 128 MPs must be present for the presidential election, otherwise it will be postponed.

Lebanon's constitution rules that a presidential candidate needs a two thirds' majority vote from the parliament in order to be elected, and if none of the candidates win outright in the first round there is a run-off, which also requires a simple majority vote.

Lebanese Hezbollah had threatened to boycott the Sept. 25 parliamentary session if the country's rival camps failed to reach a consensus in advance on a presidential candidate, which cast doubt on the chances of the required quorum being met.

According to the Lebanese constitution, if there is no president after the current president serves out his term, the prime minister and his cabinet would be asked to assume the presidential duties.

Lahoud has warned Seniora's government against continuing to rule Lebanon in case parliament fails to elect a new head of state in September.

During an interview with France 24 television on last Sunday, Lahoud said that if the time for the presidential election in Parliament, scheduled for Sept. 25, arrives and "they fail to elect a new president, I will be forced to take a decision, that is the lesser of two evils, rather than allow an unconstitutional government to assume the role of the president."

The statement was interpreted by both the parliamentary majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition as an indication of Lahoud's inclination for the installation of another government parallel to the current Seniora-led one.

Source: Xinhua