BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Lebanon's pro-Syrian camp led by Hezbollah opted to begin an open-ended strike as of Friday with the intent to bring down the government.
This political escalation raises risks of confrontations and it paralyzes the country's political and economic life.
It places Lebanon's future in the unknown, political analyst Amin Kammourieh told United Press International Thursday.
In view of the two sides' inflexible stances -- the anti-Syrian March 14 Coalition which commands majority in Parliament refusing to change the government, and Hezbollah's determination to replace Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet with a national unity government -- the country is heading towards total political and economic paralysis, Kammourieh said.
"In other words, we are facing a deadlock at the moment," he cautioned.
"The so-called opposition led by Hezbollah hopes that by crippling the country it will force the government to concede and accept their demand," Kammourieh said.
"But with each party showing more inflexibility and determination to stick to its stance, the country is moving towards the unknown," Kammourieh warned.
He cautioned that the March 14 Coalition can also make a show of force in the street to prove that they represent a majority which the opposition insists on describing as "fictional." "But a show of force in the street on both sides might lead to a probable friction and confrontation which will be detrimental," Kammourieh cautioned.
"One possibility is that Siniora's government resigns, but the opposition will not be able to form a new government which will place the country in a grave constitutional vacuum," he said.
A meager possibility is that the government dominated by the March 14 Coalition accepts the other camp's demands, "but that is a remote and very uncertain scenario."
