59 MPs vote for Azour, 51 for Franjieh amid row over 'missing' vote
Lawmakers in crisis-hit Lebanon on Wednesday failed for the 12th time to elect a new president, as bitter divisions between Hezbollah and its opponents marred the vote.
Candidates Jihad Azour and Suleiman Franjieh both failed to get across the line, with Azour garnering 59 votes and Frangieh 51 in the 128-seat parliament.
Six MPs voted for former minister Ziad Baroud, one MP voted for Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun and 8 for "New Lebanon" amid controversy over a "missing" vote.
All lawmakers showed up for the election, but many left the chamber after placing their ballots in the box and quorum was lost before a second round of voting -- where the winner only requires 65 ballots -- was able to go ahead.
Berri adjourned the voting session despite demands by the MPs to repeat the vote or the counting, as the counted ballots were 127 while 128 MPs voted.
MPs of Amal and Hezbollah and MP Jihad al-Samad had already walked out of the session.
"One missing vote would not make a difference," Berri said, and ended the session due to lack of quorum.
Change MP Melhem Khalaf had asked Speaker Berri at the beginning of the session not to leave parliament before a president is elected in open-ended sessions. "I am not listening to you," Berri responded.
Lebanon has been without a head of state for more than seven months, and the last bid to elect a president was held on January 19.
As the 11 before it, Wednesday's attempt was "only a way for political forces to gauge their respective electoral weight" and see how many votes they can get, analyst Karim Bitar said.
Lebanon is facing a double power vacuum, with the country governed by a caretaker cabinet with limited powers for more than a year.
The international community has urged politicians to elect a consensus presidential candidate who can help the country enact reforms required to unlock billions of dollars in loans from abroad.
Franjieh, a former lawmaker and minister who is a friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hails from a storied family dynasty, like many of Lebanon's prominent political figures.
On Sunday, he promised to be "the president of all Lebanese" despite his polarizing alliances.
Azour was finance minister from 2005 to 2008 and has stepped aside from his role as the director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the International Monetary Fund in view of the presidential contest.
Azour's supporters had said their candidate can get more than 65 votes. On Wednesday he garnered 59.
"The FPM and the opposition have nothing in common except the agreement on eliminating Franjieh," Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said, as he accused Azour's supporters of not being convinced of him themselves.
Many who voted for Azour, including Change MPs and the Lebanese Forces, had said he is not their ideal candidate but would still vote for him to end the vacuum.
- 'Prolonged vacuum' -
The winner needs two-thirds majority, or 86 votes from the 128 members of parliament -- but Hezbollah and its allies have posted spoilt ballots to disrupt previous votes.
Quorum has been lost before a second round of voting -- where the winner only requires 65 ballots -- has been able to go ahead.
Hezbollah and its allies adopted a similar tactic in the last presidential vote, a move that left Lebanon without a president for more than two years, until Michel Aoun's 2016 win.
Pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar's front page on Wednesday featured just one word: vacuum.
If Azour got more than 60 votes it would have been a huge "reversal of fortune for Hezbollah", said Bitar, and would represent massive cross-sectarian "opposition to Hezbollah hegemony on the Lebanese political landscape".
"However, at this stage, the most likely scenario is a prolonged vacuum," Bitar added.
Azour on Monday said he wanted to "contribute to a solution" not a crisis, as he announced his bid for the post.
He said he was "not defying anyone", after Hezbollah described him as the "defiance and confrontation candidate".
Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, has accused Azour's supporters of not wanting him to be elected but "using him" to block Franjieh's path to the presidency.
Bitar said the stalemate at Wednesday's ballot could pave the way for protracted negotiations "that would ultimately reach a third-man solution".
The United States and France on Tuesday renewed calls for Lebanese lawmakers to cooperate and elect a new president.
French foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre urged MPs to "take this date seriously" and "not to waste another opportunity".
- Shiite Duo calls for dialogue -
"Enough passing the buck... for prolonging the vacuum," Berri said in a statement after the session.
"Only consensus and dialogue" will speed up the election of a president, he added, without immediately scheduling a new ballot.
Sami Gemayel, head of the Christian Kataeb party, called Wednesday's support for Azour an "uprising" against "diktats and threats", in reference to accusations Hezbollah is seeking to impose its preferred candidate.
The Shiite movement has described Azour as the "defiance and confrontation candidate".
Before and after the session, Hezbollah MPs called for dialogue and consensus.
"No one can impose a president, the only solution is consensus," Fadlallah said.
He added that "the country cannot be led by confrontation".
"Dialogue is essential for electing a president," he told AFP, calling for "understanding".
Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan claimed Azour and those around him had no political program and called for a "real national dialogue away from the auctioneering and intimidation."
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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