The former army commander and leader of the "Reform and Change" bloc in Parliament cast doubt on the ability of the National Dialogue to find a solution to the "presidency debacle" in the next round of talks on May 16.

The presidential aspirant insisted in separate statements to LBCI and Al-Manar television stations Saturday that he would not abandon the effort to achieve a consensus among the political and sectarian elite. But he would participate in the next round of talks only as "an observer."

Aoun displayed clear discontent with the failure of negotiators to endorse him as the one and only presidential candidate, and accused the "parliamentary majority" of obstructing agreement on a new election law.

This, he claimed, was a deliberate effort to undermine a drive for early parliamentary elections, which could reverse the results of the 2005 polls.

"This Parliament is incapable of solving any of our pending problems. The solution is to quickly endorse an election law to be followed by early elections," he said. "This Parliament will not be electing a president, but endorsing a consensus candidate."

Aoun claimed that he enjoys the support of 70 percent of the Lebanese, and said he would not stop his supporters from taking to the streets to bring down the government.

"The people are boiling. There are social and union demands that are not being addressed," said Aoun. "We used to say give way to quiet dialogue to solve the problems, but now we will not stop street action."(Naharnet)