Lebanese Parliament fails to elect new President, Session adjourned
Shafaq News/ The Lebanese Parliament failed to elect a new president during its first voting session on Thursday, further prolonging a leadership vacuum that has persisted for over two years.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the session for two hours to facilitate discussions, after no candidate obtained the two-thirds majority required for the election.
The voting results from the first round showed Joseph Aoun, the Army Commander, emerging as the leading candidate with 71 votes, while 37 blank ballots were cast.
Additionally, 18 invalid ballots bore phrases such as "Sovereignty and the Constitution" and "Sovereignty is not an opinion," alongside names like "Joseph Amos bin Farhan" and "Yazid bin Farhan."
Under Lebanese law, electing a president requires a two-thirds majority (86 votes) in the first round. If no candidate achieves this threshold, subsequent rounds require a simple majority (65 votes).
The session, broadcast live, was initially seen as a potential step toward resolving Lebanon’s prolonged political deadlock. However, it quickly descended into heated arguments and verbal altercations among members of Parliament, underscoring the deep divisions in the country’s political landscape.
Some MPs questioned the constitutional legitimacy of the electoral process and accused “foreign powers” of meddling in Lebanon's presidential election.
Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, was among those voicing concerns. He criticized what he described as “external guardianship” over the process, stating, “There is external oversight dictating the election of Lebanon’s president.”
The session, held with a quorum, saw the presence of high-profile international representatives, including French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, Saudi envoy Yazid bin Mohammed Al-Farhan, and ambassadors from the Quint Committee, which oversees Lebanon’s presidential crisis.
Notably, Lebanon’s presidential elections are a cornerstone of its confessional political system, designed to balance power among the country’s religious sects. The president, always a Maronite Christian, is elected by the 128-member Parliament for a six-year, non-renewable term.
The president serves as head of state, playing a symbolic unifying role while overseeing the appointment of the prime minister and approval of laws. This process is central to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing framework established under the 1943 National Pact.
However, Lebanon’s presidential elections are often marred by political deadlock and external interference. Rivalries between domestic factions, backed by competing regional powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia, frequently delay the process, leading to prolonged power vacuums.
These vacancies have paralyzed governance during critical times, as seen during the current crisis following Michel Aoun’s departure in 2022. Amid economic collapse and widespread discontent, the inability to elect a president reflects the entrenched divisions and challenges of Lebanon’s political landscape, leaving the nation in a precarious state.
