BEIRUT -- Lebanese opposition ministers used veto power in the Saturday's cabinet meeting for the first time since the national unity government was formed in July, An-Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The veto power was used when the opposition disagreed with the pro-government ministers on the formation of an election campaign surveillance committee for the 2009 parliamentary elections, the report said.

Pro-government ministers had to give in to the opposition which prefers a person affiliated to parliament speaker Nabih Berri instead of the one the interior minister Ziad Baroud named in the surveillance committee.

The Doha accord signed between Lebanese rival leaders on May 21this year in Qatar, granted the opposition a veto power in the cabinet after 18 months of political deadlock over the issue.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said during his visit in Lebanon that he has submitted a request to the Lebanese cabinet to send observers from Carter Center for election surveillance. -Xinhua