Lebanon: Parliament speaker will call session to elect new president
Lebanon: Parliament speaker will call session to elect new president
Lebanon's parliament, formed in May, is preparing to elect the nation's next president with the parliament speaker set to call for a session on Thursday.
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No political bloc in Lebanon gained a substantial majority in the general elections held in May [source: Getty]
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri will call for a session to elect a new president on September 29, an official source told Reuters, despite no political consensus on a candidate.
The session will be held just over a month before current President Michel Aoun's term is set to end on October 31.
By convention, the president of Lebanon is a Christian Maronite, and the main responsibility is to serve as a symbol of the nation's unity.
In parliament, a president is elected by way of a secret ballot and a two-thirds majority in the first session, with an absolute majority in subsequent rounds.
Given Lebanon's myriad of crises, the coming election is set to be one of the most important in the nation's history.
[Reuters]
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