By Miret el Naggar

Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday failed to elect a candidate to succeed pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, further deepening the rift between the Western-backed majority, known as March 14, and the Syrian-allied opposition led by Hezbollah.

Security was tight on Tuesday after last week's assassination of anti-Syrian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem, thousands of military troops and police forces surveilled the area and pro-government legislators were escorted to the parliament building.

Members of the majority displayed posters of their colleagues who were assassinated, while the opposition roamed the hallways of the building and boycotted the session.

Lebanon's rival political camps are locked in a power struggle over how to choose the next President. The majority wants a head of state from their own ranks, and threatened to elect a president with a simple majority if no consensus is achieved. The opposition insists on the two thirds quorum and, in turn, threatened to elect their own government if the majority moves ahead with its plan.

Parliament will adjourn on October 23rd.