BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a successor to President Michel Aoun for a second time in less than a month.
Some MPs boycotted the vote, meaning a quorum was not reached, while others described the events surrounding the failed meeting as a farce.
Although 88 MPs were present at the parliamentary headquarters, only 71 attended the voting session.
The required quorum is 86 MPs, or two-thirds of the total number of 128 MPs.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for another vote on Oct. 20 before Aoun’s term finishes at the end of the month.
Aoun is due to leave the presidential palace at midnight on Oct. 31.
Thursday’s session was adjourned due to lack of quorum and agreement on a serious candidate.
The parliamentary bloc of 19 MPs that represents Aoun’s team, headed by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, boycotted the session because it coincided with the 32nd anniversary of the Syrian army’s storming of the presidential palace in Baabda.
Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers were killed in the attack, while Aoun fled to the French Embassy.
Armenian MPs allied with Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement also boycotted the parliamentary session on Thursday.
MP George Bushekian said that all political blocs need to reach consensus.
“So far, things are not clear and we want to pick the right man to serve the country’s interests,” he said.
Several MPs were absent due to medical reasons, including reformist MP Cynthia Zarazir, who last week stormed a bank to recover her withheld savings so she could pay for surgery last week.
Although only 15 more MPs were needed to reach a quorum, some of Hezbollah’s 15 MPs and Amal’s 15 MPs present at parliament headquarters did not enter the hall where sessions are held.
This prompted some MPs to describe the events as a farce since the quorum was met at parliament headquarters but not in the session itself.
Reformist MP Paula Yacoubian said: “Had you told us this would happen, we would not have attended and wasted gasoline.”
Most MPs who attended the session expressed concerns over the threat of a presidential vacuum if parliament fails to elect a president next week.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said before the session: “The country needs understandings and consensus between the parliamentary blocs. Challenging one another will lead to a vacuum.”
Meanwhile, MP Michel Moussa from Berri’s bloc revealed that the bloc would cast a blank vote during the session.
Bassil, who stood with his bloc in front of the Unknown Soldier monument, near parliament headquarters, said: “This moment carries blood, pain and violence, and it is more important than anything else. We should have respected each other’s martyrs. On this day, soldiers were martyred for the sake of legitimacy and our homeland, but some have betrayed their memory.”
Berri had sarcastically responded to the FPM’s objection to holding the session on Oct. 13, saying: “I had no idea it was an official holiday.”
The blocs that attended the session were either going to cast a blank ballot, vote for the candidate MP Michel Moawad, or cast a vote with “Lebanon” written on the ballot.
The Lebanese Forces, the Progressive Socialist Party, the Kataeb Party, and Tajaddod announced that they would have voted for Moawad once again. He was expected to get 40 votes, although he needs 64 to be elected president.
LF deputy head MP George Adwan said: “There is no excuse for blocs no voting for any candidate. There is no excuse for not having any candidate with a clear stance. Moawad has the ability to achieve the desired change.”
Progressive Socialist Party MP Hadi Abu Al-Hassan said: “Moawad is a patriotic candidate who believes in the Taif agreement and has a clear economic vision. Most of the opposition blocs agreed on Moawad. Why not vote for him unanimously?”
He criticized the MPs who disrupted the session, saying: “We just had a major breakthrough in the maritime border demarcation issue, which requires reviving state institutions, establishing a reform workshop in parliament, and resuming negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Why would we miss the opportunity to achieve a secure and prosperous future for the Lebanese?”
Reformist MPs and two independent MPs from Sidon said that they would not cast a blank vote.
MP Osama Saad noted: “I would have voted for Dr. Essam Khalifa in protest against the maritime border demarcation process. Khalifa is one of the fiercest academics who criticized Lebanon’s adoption of Line 23 to demarcate the maritime border, instead of Line 29 which guarantees Lebanon its rights to part of the Karish field.”
After the session, MP Melhem Khalaf demanded that Berri call on parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the maritime border demarcation.
