MPs from both camps claim 'victory' after botched presidential vote

MPs from the rival electoral camps on Wednesday claimed “victory” in a presidential election session that failed to produce a new president.

“The camp that is trying to impose its candidate garnered 51 votes, which means that there is a clear majority against the imposition process … Our rejection of imposition means that we have won,” MP Michel Mouawad of the pro-Jihad Azour camp said after the session.

MP Ali Hassan Khalil of Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc meanwhile said the session carried “a victory for the democratic battle and for an alliance that carries a clear political project.”

“The victory today was a victory for the project in the face of an intersection whose elements have said that it is temporary and would end with the end of the session,” Khalil added.

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel for his part noted that the rival camp’s MPs “blocked quorum and ran away from the session,” noting that “this proves who won the battle.”

“We did not want the battle but rather consensus, and that’s why we proposed a consensual person. The other camp was supposed to meet us halfway but it is continuing with its imposition approach and we will continue confronting them,” Gemayel added.

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.

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.