Lebanese Parliament fails to elect new president

Michel Aoun, Lebanon’s president, speaks in a prerecorded video during the United Nations General Assembly via live stream in New York, U.S., on Friday, 24 Sept. 2021. [Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Meeting in the capital, Beirut, Lebanon’s Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president, threatening to deepen the country’s continuing crises, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Candidate, Michel Mouawad, backed by the Lebanese Forces Party, failed to get the necessary votes to win the post, and pushed to hold another voting session, according to local media.

Current President Michel Aoun’s six-year term ends on 31 October.

To win in the first round of voting, two-thirds of lawmakers in the 128-member assembly are needed, after which a simple majority suffices.

In Lebanon, the president is limited to a single six-year term.

Lebanese MPs have not yet agreed on a successor to Aoun, raising concerns of a political and institutional deadlock in Lebanon, which has been going through a deep economic crisis since 2019.

Lebanon has already been without a fully functioning government since May.

READ: UNSC calls for swift formation of government in Lebanon

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