Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri said Wednesday failure to elect a new president fell short of the aspirations of the Lebanese, "Arab brothers and friends of Lebanon." Berri, in a statement following the fruitless parliamentary session, said "the Lebanese, Arab brothers and Lebanon's friends have been awaiting a performance and conduct up to the level of Lebanon, the challenges and hazards." He urged the warring parties to abstain from putting the blame on each others and prolonging "presidential vacuum." Berri said the aspired speedy election of a new president can only be attained through consensus, dialogue .. "with no shunning or isolating or challenging." The veteran speaker of the house chaired the 12th session earlier today to vote for electing a president, however the two main contenders failed to garner a sufficient number of the ballots to win the top seat.
The session, attended by 128 MPs in the first round, concluded without any candidates winning the necessary 86 votes, a two thirds majority, while the second session saw the lack of quorum.
Former Minister Jihad Azour won 59 of the votes, former MP and ex-minister of interior Suleiman Frangieh won 51 of the votes. Former minister of interior and lawyer Ziad Baroud won seven votes and commander of the army General Joseph Aoun gained one vote. Nine MPs voted on a paper with the words "new Lebanon" written on.
This is the 12th session since the general elections last September, which had one of its goal to choose a new President in place of Michel Aoun whose Presidency expired on December 31, 2022.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
