(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon is set to postpone next month’s parliamentary elections to 2017 because of instability linked to the Syrian crisis, according to a government minister. This will be the second postponement of the elections, which should have taken place in June 2013.
The 128-member parliament will delay the elections for another two years and seven months from November because of the “deteriorating security situation in the country,” according to an interview with Reuters. He declined to be named because parliament has yet to officially vote on the postponement.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday he stands side-by-side with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri against holding parliamentary elections before a presidential vote.
“I refuse to hold parliamentary elections if a basic component in Lebanon reject it,” Berri said.
Lebanon’s interior minister and MPs have frequently said a new delay is inevitable. A postponement to 2017 would mean that the current parliament would serve two four-year terms in a row.
Lebanon has been without a president since May, when Michel Sleiman’s term ended, because feuding lawmakers have been unable to decide on a successor and have blamed each other for the deadlock.
Lawmakers, who support different sides in Syria’s civil war, are divided on many issues including on ways to deal with the effects of the crisis, which has driven around 1 million refugees into Lebanon.