The head of the parliamentary group of the Lebanese Shiite militia-party Hezbollah, Mohamad Raad, has appealed for a «consensus» to succeed in electing the country’s new president, amid a vacuum in office following the end of Michel Aoun’s term and the fact that the government is in office after he resigned.
«The fastest way to elect a president is consensus. The urgent needs of the country require a president with different characteristics. We must discuss it,» he said, before criticizing the «political farce» and the «personal and selfish interests» that prevent the situation from being resolved.
Thus, Raad denounced that the «hatred and racism» among the «responsible and their policies» have «destroyed» Lebanon, as reported by the newspaper ‘L’Orient le Jour’. Hezbollah has so far voted blank in the ten parliamentary sessions to try to appoint the president in the absence of agreement on a candidate.
To be elected, the president must obtain the support of two-thirds of parliamentarians — 86 out of 128 — in the first round or an absolute majority in case more votes have to be held, as provided for in Article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution. Aoun was elected president in 2016 after nearly half a hundred parliamentary sessions that lasted 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.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
