Reports: New president to be elected this year
Despite the total deadlock in the presidential election process, a breakthrough is still possible within two months, informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Friday.
MP Marwan Hamadeh of the Democratic Gathering bloc also told al-Jadeed TV on Friday that, according to information he has, the presidential election will not be delayed beyond this year.
Lebanon's divided parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president for the fifth time, with the post vacant since the mandate of Michel Aoun expired last month.
Aoun's own election in 2016 followed a more than two-year vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach consensus on a candidate.
But this year's vacancy comes as Lebanon is gripped by an unprecedented financial crisis that has pushed much of the population into poverty since 2019.
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