Lebanon’s parliament failed Thursday for the fifth time in its efforts to elect the country’s new president, after the term of the current president, Michel Aoun, expired on October 31 amid political paralysis in the country.
On this occasion, the most voted candidate was Michel Muauad, who obtained 44 endorsements, to the eight of historian Isam Jalifé and the vote received by former minister Ziad Barud. On the other hand, 47 parliamentarians voted blank, while the second round was cancelled due to lack of quorum.
Thus, the Shiite militia-party Hezbollah and its Shiite allies AMAL, as well as Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FMP) voted blank, while the Lebanese Forces, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Lebanese Phalanges backed Muawad.
Thus, some parliamentarians walked out of the chamber before the second vote, as they had done four times before, amid calls by several lawmakers for an indefinite session until the new president is elected, according to the Lebanese news portal Naharnet.
«The chamber should be blocked and the Lebanese should demonstrate in front of parliament until a new speaker is elected,» said MP Elias Jradé of the Change bloc. However, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has postponed the session until November 17.
To be elected, the president must obtain the support of two-thirds of the parliamentarians – 86 out of 128 – in the first round or an absolute majority in the event of further ballots, as provided for in Article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution.
Aoun was elected president in 2016 after nearly half a hundred parliamentary sessions that dragged on for two and a half years. Lebanon has been trapped for several years in a deep and protracted political, economic and social crisis that has resulted in more than 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line and a banking system paralyzed since October 2019.
US ANNOUNCES AID DELIVERY In this context, the head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, announced on Wednesday the delivery of $72 million (a similar amount in euros) in emergency food aid for 650,000 vulnerable people in Lebanon.
USAID said in its statement that the beneficiaries – which includes food rations for Lebanese families and e-tickets for Syrian refugees – include refugees from Syria and other countries and noted that the funding will be delivered through the World Food Program (WFP).
The agency also warned of the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on food and fuel prices in Lebanon and regretted that this situation «pushes more and more people into a situation of food insecurity and exacerbates the consequences of the economic crisis in Lebanon».
On the other hand, Power announced Thursday the delivery of $50 million for Lebanese and refugee students to attend classes at the American University of Beirut (UAB), the Lebanese American University (LAU) and the Notre Dame-Louaiza University (NDU).
