Lebanon fails to elect president for 12th time in eight months

Lebanon’s divided parliament failed to elect a president on Wednesday for the 12th time in eight months, leaving the crises-ridden country without an effective government.

Former finance minister Jihad Azour received 59 votes while his main rival, Suleiman Frangieh, won 51 votes and 15 MPs cast protest ballots.

House speaker, Nabih Berri, of the Amal Movement, the largest Shia party in the 128-member Beirut parliament, adjourned the session after 47 deputies left the chamber, depriving the session of a quorum of 85 and preventing him from calling a second vote requiring a simple majority of 65.

This tactic was used during 10 of the earlier sessions to prevent the election of a candidate opposed by the powerful Shia Hizbullah-Amal alliance.

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Mr Berri has not set a date for a new electoral session, extending Lebanon’s political stasis and economic meltdown which began in 2019. He called on MPs to stop “prolonging the presidential vacuum” and “engage in dialogue [to achieve] a common vision”.

In previous presidential elections, a consensus candidate has been chosen in advance of the parliamentary vote but Mr Berri, who had not called for a vote since January, came under pressure from Washington to hold the session.

On Tuesday, senior US diplomat Victoria Nuland tweeted that she had had a “constructive” phone call with Mr Berri who promised to retain a quorum and hold votes “as long as it takes to get the job done”. The US has threatened to sanction politicians who obstructed the election.

Two civil wars and repeated political crises have been caused by Lebanon’s sectarian system, adopted in 1943, under which the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliamentary speaker a Shia Muslim.

Mr Azour – an economist who advises the International Monetary Fund – was chosen by the largest Maronite Christian parties, the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces. While they regarded him as a “consensus” candidate, he is seen as “confrontational” by Hizbullah and Amal.

Despite opposition from Lebanese Christians, Sunni Muslims and western powers, Hizbullah and Amal are determined to maintain both political influence and arms which they argue are meant to deter Israel from attacking Lebanon.

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Their candidate, Mr Frangieh, is a former deputy and leader of a Maronite Christian militia and party in north Lebanon. He is the grandson of pro-Syrian Suleiman Frangieh, who was president from 1970 to 1976, and retains close ties to Syria’s ruling family, the Assads. Mr Frangieh backed Hizbullah’s support for Syria’s government during the civil and proxy war.

The presidency has been vacant since Michel Aoun retired on October 31st, leaving a caretaker government which cannot execute reforms essential to rescue the country from economic collapse and a parliament which cannot legislate until a president is in office. Mr Aoun was elected during the 46th parliamentary session after a vacuum of 49 months. His son-in-law Gibran Bassil retains the ambition to succeed Mr Aoun and has joined the Lebanese Forces to prevent the election of Mr Frangieh.