Azour urges moving electoral process forward for 'good of Lebanese people'
Ex-minister and incumbent IMF official Jihad Azour on Wednesday thanked the Lebanese lawmakers who voted for him in the 12th presidential election session, which did not produce a new president.
"I hope that this development will be an incentive to converge on the need of getting Lebanon out of the crisis and move the process forward for the good of the Lebanese people," Azour said in an English-language statement.
Azour received 59 votes in the first round of voting in Wednesday’s session as Suleiman Franjieh garnered 51 votes. Speaker Nabih Berri later adjourned the session amid a loss of quorum and controversy over a “lost” vote. Eighty-six votes are needed by any candidate to win from the first round while 65 are needed in the second round.
MPs from both camps claimed “victory” after the session.
Lebanon has been without a head of state for more than seven months, and the previous attempt to elect a president was held on January 19.
Source: Naharnet
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