As threats of street violence dominate the highly charged political scene in preparation to oust President Emile Lahoud, parties preparing to meet in a national dialogue continue to call for reason as the only safe way forward.

Although not originally part of the planned talks, the issue of the presidency is increasingly put on the table as a potential topic of discussion. The original dialogue agenda included UN resolution 1559, “the resistance” and relations with Syria, however Marjeyoun-Hasbaya MP Anwar Khalil, a member of the follow-up committee in charge of gathering support for the conclave said that there is no conflict in discussing deposing Lahoud. “All three topics cover what is being discussed and UN 1559 covers the issue of the presidency,” Khalil said during a press conference.

Batroun MP Butros Harb said that signing the two petitions organized by the March 14th alliance “won’t take more than 48 hours each to be all signed.” The inter-related petitions claim that the September 3rd, 2004 extension of Lahoud’s mandate three additional years was coerced and thus rendered “unconstitutional”, thereby “null and void.” The petitions end by concluding that the seat of the presidency is in fact vacant. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea issued a statement Monday saying “the current paralysis with respect to an impotent president cannot continue.”

Daily Al Mustakbal quoted Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah as saying that the party welcomes the process by which the consensus candidate of the Baabda-Aley by-elections was chosen “without a fight”, an indication of the first fruits picked following the announced coalition between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement.

“We welcome the balanced course of reason that the March 14th alliance chose when dealing with this issue and we hope that the same type of approach is adopted concerning other national issues,” Al Mustakbal quoted Fadlallah as saying.

An Nahar daily wrote that the dialogue set for a March 2nd starting date will invite a maximum of 10 top leaders including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Former President Amin Gemayel, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, and Lebasnese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea.

Al Balad daily quoted follow-up committee member MP Michel Moussa as saying that the dialogue will last a little more than a week and will be held within the confines of the Parliament. Former Labor Minister Ali Qanso asked that the national dialogue includes a wide number of political forces including Suleiman Franjieh, and former Premier Omar Karame.

Ad Diyar daily quoted sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri, the talks’ sponsor, as saying that what’s important is for dialogue members to discuss all three agenda topics under the ceiling of the Taif accord. “We have no objections to discussing Lahoud’s presidential dilemma,” the sources told the daily. The daily believes that the roundtable discussions could include as many as 14 leaders including Saad Hariri, FPM leader Michel Aoun, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, Tripoli MP and Transportation Minister Mohammed Safadi and Zahle MP Elie Skaff.

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