For the eighth time… The Lebanese parliament fails to elect a president

The Lebanese parliament on Thursday failed, for the eighth time, to elect a president, despite the post having been vacant for a month, due to deep political divisions amid an economic collapse in acceleration that the authorities are not in able to contain.

52 deputies voted with carte blanche, while deputy Michel Moawad obtained 37 votes.

The system of agreements and quotas between political and sectarian forces usually delays important decisions, including the formation of a government or the election of a president.

The President of the Parliament has set a date for a new session next Thursday.

In the first round of voting, a candidate needs a two-thirds majority, or 86 votes, to win. The required majority in case of second session, it becomes 65 votes out of 128, which is the number of members of Parliament.

As every week, the first session was held with the presence of a two-thirds majority, before the deputies withdrew to overturn the quorum in the second session.

No political party has a parliamentary majority to impose its candidate.