Lebanon fails for third time to elect president

Lebanon's parliament failed on October 20 for a third time to elect a successor to President Michel Aoun, stoking fears of a political vacuum after his mandate expires at the end of the month.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri called for another vote on October 17 in the hope of overcoming long-running discord between political factions in crisis-hit Lebanon, already governed by a caretaker cabinet, according to The New Arab.

Lawmaker Michel Moawad, son of former president Rene Moawad - who was assassinated days after his election in 1989 - emerged as a frontrunner when parliament first convened to vote on a new president last month, with lawmakers opposed to the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement backing his candidacy.

But the 42 votes he received in Thursday's (October 20) session fell well short of the 65 needed for election in the second round of voting.

A total of 119 lawmakers from Lebanon's 128-seat parliament attended the session, but a quorum was lost before a second round could be held after some lawmakers walked out. Fifty-five lawmakers cast blank ballots.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told reporters before the vote that "there is no consensus and no comprehensive dialogue between the different blocs."

Under Lebanon's longstanding confessional power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian.

Aoun was elected in 2016 after a more than two-year vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach a consensus on a candidate.

The political deadlock has also scuppered efforts to form a new government since the outgoing cabinet's mandate expired in May, despite the country being gripped by its worst-ever financial crisis.

Since 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 per cent of its value against the dollar on the black market and poverty rates have climbed to cover most of the population.