None of the candidates for presidency in Lebanon was able to get the necessary 65 votes to win in the parliamentary vote on Thursday, that is, get the support of the majority of members of the legislature - 128 deputies. Nabih Berri, speaker of the House of Deputies, made the announcement.
"The greatest number of lawmakers favored deputy Michel Moawwad, who is nominated by opposition factions," the speaker said. - "Forty-two deputies voted for him." According to him, 55 deputies put blank ballots in the ballot boxes.
Berri has scheduled the next vote in parliament for October 24.
Al Jadid TV reported that the blank ballots were dropped in the ballot boxes by deputies from the Strong Lebanon Christian Bloc, as well as supporters of the Shia Hezbollah and Amal parties, which favor the nomination of a consensus figure for president.
In the first round, which took place on September 29, the presidential contenders needed 86 votes to win. At the time, 42 deputies also voted for Moawwad. Pro-Syrian factions had intended to nominate Al-Marada Christian Party leader Suleiman Frangieh, considered the frontrunner in the presidential elections, but he was not presented for a vote in either the first or second rounds.
The term of office of the current head of state, Michel Aoun, ends on October 31. According to Lebanon's confessional system, the post of prime minister belongs to Sunni Muslims, the speaker of parliament to Shiite Muslims, and the president of the republic is elected from the Maronite community, the majority of local Christians belong to.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: djedj\Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS