The US-backed government of Fouad Siniora rejected the declaration. "It is as if the statement was never issued," said Siniora. The Constitution says a President cannot call a state of emergency without government approval, but Lahoud and the Hizbullah-led opposition view the cabinet as unconstitutional following the walk out of its Shia ministers last year.
The country is now in a presidential vacuum, with thousands of troops deployed across Beirut, and is likely to stay that way until the elections, postponed until next week, are attempted again. The government had said it would elect its own president without the participation of the opposition if a solution could not be reached. The opposition has said any such move is tantamount to a "coup". If the two sides cannot agree on a candidate, the opposition has threatened to set up a second government operating in tandem, as was the case at the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
Washington made a statement after Lahoud's announcement calling for calm and pledging support to the Lebanese army and security services. The US State department appealed for Lebanon's military and security services to uphold the law and for political actors to negotiate.
It made no reference to Lahoud's emergency declaration, however, and said Washington understood that when his term expires "the Lebanese cabinet will temporarily assume executive powers and responsibilities until a new President is elected by Lebanon's parliament".