Lebanese Forces MPs leave the assembly hall after the postponement of the Oct. 13 electoral session due to lack of quorum, (Credit: An-Nahar)
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Parliament is scheduled to convene today for a third attempt at electing a successor to President Michel Aoun, amid protests organized by collectives associated with the Oct. 17, 2019, popular uprisings aimed to “force” a successful election just days before the constitutional deadline. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea yesterday claimed that MP Michel Moawad — the leading candidate in the first round of voting, with 36 ballots cast in his favor — would receive even more support in today’s session. Moawad made a similar claim after the second voting session, which failed to reach a quorum. Despite repeated calls for consensus among MPs on the next head of state, no agreement appears to have yet been reached. Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil announced yesterday that his party’s parliamentary bloc would cast blank votes during today’s session.
Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad cited contaminated irrigation water and lack of medical care as the culprit after two more people died from cholera yesterday, bringing the death count to five while the number of recorded cases rose to 169. Abiad warned against the "fast spread of the disease," reiterating calls for reliable electricity to be provided to Lebanon’s water infrastructure. On Monday, the United Nations’ children’s fund (UNICEF) announced it had supplied “80,000 liters of fuel to water pumping stations and wastewater treatment stations in locations with confirmed and suspected cholera cases.” The first local case of cholera in almost 30 years was recorded on Oct. 6, and its subsequent spread demonstrates the pervasiveness of Lebanon’s electricity crisis, marked by a sharp supply deficit from state electricity provider Electricité du Liban. The electricity crisis — which exacerbated issues with water supply and jeopardized hospital functions — now poses an intertwined threat to both sectors. Many fear the cholera outbreak could overwhelm the already-collapsed public health system.
"Hochstein will be in Beirut next week with the agreement we will sign," Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab told Reuters yesterday, announcing a final visit from the US mediator in the indirect maritime border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The start of oil and gas exploration is expected to follow the agreement’s ratification, Aoun said last Thursday in an address announcing Lebanon’s approval of Hochstein’s proposal. Drilling rights to two Lebanese offshore oil and gas blocks are held by a consortium composed of French and Italian energy companies TotalEnergies and Eni, respectively, and the Ministry of Energy, which acquired Novatek’s 20 percent share after the Russian company’s withdrawal. “The drilling platform will be brought in 2023 to start exploration,” a delegation from TotalEngeries said Tuesday, while expert estimates advise patience regarding the possible benefits to be reaped by Lebanon if any maritime hydrocarbons are found. While numerous international actors heralded the agreement, expecting positive repercussions for Lebanon and the region, they also warned against considering offshore oil and gas resources as substitutes for direly needed economic reforms.
Tripoli’s municipal council elected a new president, filling a vacancy that lasted more than two months after the council withdrew confidence from the previous chief. Ahmad Kamareddine, who had been appointed by North Lebanon Governor Ramzi Nohra as interim chair, officially ascended to the post with 11 out of 15 votes from the council’s members. Kamareddine was the first Tripoli municipality council president but lost confidence in 2019 after three years of service. On Aug. 1, the council almost unanimously voted out Kamareddine’s former successor — now predecessor — Riad Yamak over allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Yamak considered his dismissal as “politically motivated,” which according to well-informed sources in Tripoli, allude to the previous council president’s refusal to make nepotistic assignments. Municipal elections had been scheduled for this year; however, the time conflict with parliamentary elections delayed the vote until 2023.
Five authors withdrew from an Institut Français Du Liban-organized literary festival that launched yesterday, following controversial comments from caretaker Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada. In a redacted tweet, Mortada criticized what he perceived to be “zionist” sympathizers among the festival’s attendees. Sélim Nassib, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Tahar ben Jelloun, Pascal Bruckner and Pierre Assouline then announced they would not participate in the inaugural Beyrouth Livres (“Beirut Books”) festival citing “the overall degradation of the situation in Lebanon.” A spokesperson for Paris-based literary organization Académie Goncourt — which was scheduled to announce the finalists for its Goncourt prize during the event and whose members include the aforementioned authors, except Nassib — told L’Orient Today that the withdrawal was not linked to Mortada’s comments. Nassib, however, directly addressed the minister’s statement, saying he was “deeply disgusted” and would no longer attend “not out of fear, but conviction.” The literary festival will last until Oct. 30 and features 110 authors as well as a variety of events scheduled across cultural sites in Lebanon.
In case you missed it, here's our must-read story from yesterday: “'In Fields of Words': Samar Yazbek and crafting a cinematic language for Syria’s tragedy”