FACTBOX-Can Lebanon's rival camps elect president?

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Lebanon's protracted political crisis now revolves around choosing a new president to succeed Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian figure whose term expires in November.

Rifts between the anti-Syrian governing coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition cast doubt on parliament's ability to choose a replacement for Lahoud, whose own term was controversially extended in 2004 at Syria's behest.

The pro-government coalition wants to ensure the next president shares its goals of keeping Lebanon free of Syrian control and backing U.N. efforts to bring the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and others to justice.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, and its allies favour a president who will not allow Lebanon to fall into Washington's orbit or pursue U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding that the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group disarm.

Here are answers to questions about the election and what might happen if it fails to take place.



HOW DOES IT WORK?

Lebanon's 128-member parliament elects a president, by tradition a Maronite Christian in the sectarian power-sharing system, for a six-year term. The president retains substantial powers, even though these were reduced under the Taif Agreement that ended the 1975-90 civil war. Parliament needs a two-thirds majority to elect a president in the first round of voting.

The declared candidates include Nassib Lahoud, Boutros Harb and Robert Ghanem for the anti-Syrian bloc known as March 14, and Michel Aoun for the opposition.

But the president may well be chosen from an array of potential compromise candidates, who include Michel Suleiman, the army commander, and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.



WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES?

The March 14 coalition does not command the two-thirds majority for a first-round vote, but says it will pick a president by a simple majority if there is no consensus.

It insists on electing one of its own to consolidate the freedom, sovereignty and independence it says Lebanon gained after Damascus withdrew its troops in April 2005.

The opposition says this would effectively put Lebanon under Western instead of Syrian tutelage. Its candidate, Aoun, was once a fierce opponent of Syria, but is now allied to Hezbollah and Amal, another Syrian-backed Shi'ite faction.

The two sides are evenly balanced, with the March 14 bloc holding a razor-thin majority in the assembly. Efforts to win agreement on a compromise candidate have yet to bear fruit.

Internal disputes are complicated by the links of Lebanese factions with the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and other powers vying for influence in the Middle East.



WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who also leads Amal, summoned MPs to parliament on Tuesday, but an opposition boycott prevented a vote. Berri called a new session for Oct. 23.

Both sides said they were ready to discuss a compromise, but they face the challenging task of agreeing not just on a president but on a broader package deal to end Lebanon's 10-month-old political crisis with a national unity government.

If the deadlock persists, the March 14 group insists it has the constitutional right to pick a president by simple majority.

The opposition, which considers Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government lost its legitimacy when all Shi'ite ministers and one Christian resigned in November, says any such move would be an unconstitutional recipe for conflict and chaos.



WHAT IF NO PRESIDENT IS ELECTED?

Lahoud has said he will refuse to hand power to Siniora's government if no president has been elected when his term expires on Nov. 23. He might name an interim cabinet instead.

That would set the stage for the emergence of rival governments competing for power in a re-run of a 1988-90 experience which produced only bloodshed and disaster.

A contest between two governments could split the army, provoke violence or even plunge Lebanon back into civil war.