42 votes for Mouawad, 55 blank votes: MPs fail to elect president for third time
Parliament on Thursday failed for a third time to elect a successor to President Michel Aoun, stoking fears of a political vacuum after his mandate expires at the end of the month.
In a first round, fifty-five MPs cast blank votes and MP Michel Mouawad received 42 votes. 21 ballots were annulled, including votes for "The New Lebanon" by the Change MPs.
Mouawad, son of former president Rene Mouawad, emerged as a frontrunner when parliament first convened to vote on a new president last month, with lawmakers opposed to Hezbollah backing his candidacy.
A total of 119 lawmakers from the 128-seat parliament attended the session, but quorum was lost before a second round could be held after some of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement MPs, who had cast bank votes in the first round, walked out.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told reporters before the vote that "there is no consensus and no comprehensive dialogue between the different blocs."
Speaker Nabih Berri set a new presidential vote session for Monday, October 24, in the hope of overcoming long-running discord between political factions in crisis-hit Lebanon, already governed by a caretaker cabinet.
"We are still working on uniting the ranks of the opposition," lawmaker Samy Gemayel, who has backed Mouawad's candidacy, told reporters after the session.
"We are facing difficulties, but I hope that as the October 31 deadline approaches everyone will join forces."
Mouawad accused Hezbollah and the FPM of clearly obstructing the election of a new President.
"My name is the only serious nomination until now," he said.
Moawad called for unifying the opposition, blaming the MPs who voted for "The New Lebanon".
"Meetings must be intensified in order to reach consensus on a president," Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said.
Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan said there are 56 MPs who are failing to agree on a name, calling them to stop obstructing the election. He urged the 22 MPs who voted with slogans to make up their mind. "These 22 MPs are blocking change," he said.
"It is funny how they are blaming us for failing to elect a president," Change MP Paula Yacoubian said. She added that all the traditional parties, including those who call themselves opposition want to benefit from the vacuum to gain time. "They know that Mouawad cannot garner 86 votes," Yacoubian said.
Aoun was elected in 2016 after a more than two-year vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach consensus on a candidate.
The political deadlock has also scuppered efforts to form a new government since the outgoing cabinet's mandate expired in May, despite the country being gripped by its worst-ever financial crisis.
At the end of a short visit to Beirut last week, France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna urged the swift election of a new president to avoid further political turmoil.
"Lebanon today cannot risk a power vacuum," she said.
Source: Naharnet
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