Still no president after 12th election attempt: Read our live coverage here

Dear readers,

We will now close our live coverage of the 12th parliamentary session to attempt to elect a new president.

As with the previous sessions, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri closed the meeting after a first round of votes, in which 59 MPs cast ballots for IMF official Jihad Azour and 51 for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh.

No new session has been set, but make sure to regularly visit L'Orient Today for coverage of the election and presidential vacuum.

Thank you for following this session with us!

In a statement after Wednesday's failed vote, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for an "unconditional dialogue that will not deprive anyone of the right to present their candidacy" to become president.

"Let's stop passing the buck and prolonging the [presidential] vacuum. Continuing on this path will not enable us to achieve the results expected by the Lebanese, Arab brothers and friends around the world, who expect us to behave in a manner worthy of the challenges and dangers facing Lebanon," he stated.

"We must begin by electing a president, and this can only be done through understanding and dialogue, in which the wills of all are united around a common vision, without isolating or challenging anyone. This dialogue will be conducted with respect for the constitution, compliance with the National Pact and partnership. It's time to arm ourselves with courage," Berri added.

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

Presidential candidate Sleiman Frangieh tweeted after Wednesday's voting session that he is "thankful to the MPs who voted for me and to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Their confidence is trust. We also respect the opinion of the MPs who did not elect me. This is a motive for constructive dialogue with everyone, which we can build upon for the next stage to achieve national interest."

MP Tony Frangieh (Zgharta) commented on the election session on Twitter: "All the contradictions converged... Look what it led to!" he said, in reference to the agreement reached by several opposition parties and the Free Patriotic Movement on supporting Jihad Azour's candidacy.

"Nothing can replace openness and unity in the face of hatred, elimination and division. This was confirmed by the result of today's session," he added in his tweet.

Tony Frangieh is the son of presidential candidate Sleiman Frangieh. 

(Credit: Nabil Ismail)

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka tweeted Wednesday: “Another inconclusive presidential election session today in Parliament. Lebanon’s leaders and parliamentarians need to take urgent steps to ensure the election of a president in the interest of their country and people.”

"The prolonged vacuum undermines Lebanon’s democratic practices and further delays the long overdue reforms and solutions needed to steer the country back to a path of recovery,” Wronecka added.

Independent MP Ihab Matar (Minieh-Denniyeh) tweeted that he had cast his ballot for army chief Joseph Aoun (the only vote in Aoun's favor) "as the military institution brings together all Lebanese, but also to protest against the deep division between the two camps" who voted for Jihad Azour and Sleiman Frangieh.

Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, tweeted: "We have repeatedly assured and said that the only solution to end the presidential vacancy is dialogue, understanding and national consensus." 

Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil (Marjayoun-Hasbaya) stated that “any kind of imposition of a candidate on us will not achieve any results. Dialogue is the only way to elect a president. We have emerged politically victorious.”

He also minimized Wednesday's vote counting issue, in which only 127 ballots were counted, saying it was just "a detail."

Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said he had requested a recount, claiming that what had happened “was an unintentional mistake.”

Out of a total of 128 votes (all MPs were present), 127 were counted. Berri finally granted the 128th vote to ex-minister Ziad Baroud, who had received six votes in his favor. This decision was criticized by several MPs.

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel (Metn) stated that “the Lebanese MPs from across Lebanon have come together to say no to the imposition of a president on Lebanon and to say no in the face of threats.”

“We have been threatened for years; we have been subject to accusations of collaboration with Israel. The other groups are saying any candidate other than Sleiman Frangieh is chosen by Tel Aviv,” Gemayel said, in a reference to an accusatory statement from mufti Ahmad Kabalan, close to Hezbollah, issued over the weekend.

Gemayel added: “Today it was obvious that those who ran out of Parliament after the first round are those who lost. We have never left, we have always stayed until the end because we are serious about electing a president for the republic. We don’t run away." 

Forces of Change MP Waddah Sadek (Beirut II) stated that “the session was unconstitutional since they should have recounted the votes when the total number of votes did not add up to 128.”

His colleague MP Mark Daou (Forces of Change/Aley) said that “the opposition faces any person who believes they can impose a president on us. We have not left the hall at any point like others have."

Former presidential candidate MP Michel Moawad (independent/Zgharta) stated: “We came to the 12th parliamentary session to face the imposition of a president on Lebanon. The other groups are stating that we have two options: our candidate or the vacancy.”

Moawad accused "the other groups" — in a reference to Hezbollah and its allies — of constantly trying to “create a state within a state.”

"It's very good to not vote for the moumanaa's [pro-Iranian axis] candidate, but what is more important is for a candidate to be elected who wants to work for the country and will allow all parties to sit together on the table and talk together."

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

Kesrouan MP Neemat Frem (independent) stated that he "voted for Jihad Azour."

"We need to find common spaces to be able to elect a president. The president who is elected must be able to count on all the blocs to be able to work. Time is running out," he said.

In a statement issued on Wednesday at the end of the parliamentary session, candidate Jihad Azour thanked the MPs who "placed their trust in him."

"I hope that we will be able to come together around a choice that will enable Lebanon to emerge from the crisis, by respecting what the majority of MPs expressed" during the election session, he added.

Azour, who is an IMF official though currently on leave due to the election, was not present at the session. 

(Infographics credit: Guilhem Dorandeu/L'Orient Today) 

Forces of Change MP Halimé El Kaakour (Chouf) said: “Stop splitting people. We saw that March 8 and March 14 split the country and did not achieve anything. This is happening again today.”

Kaakour added: “I had hoped that my colleagues [in the Forces of Change bloc] would not crack under pressure,” referring to those who decided to vote for IMF Middle East director Jihad Azour. 

LF MP Georges Adwan (Chouf) stated that “today we proved that Lebanon’s president could not be imposed on us. Today is a win for democracy. The opposition showed that it is very close to reaching 65 votes. Let no one make you believe that we will get a new third candidate.

"We were not surprised that Sleiman Frangieh received 51 votes," Adwan added.

Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi (independent) said that “the results of the count show that the majority want a state and that the state is more powerful than the voice of the state within the state.”

Amal Movement bloc MP Qassem Hashem (Marjayoun-Hasbaya) stated that “the results of the vote disappointed some people. We are protecting the country by not allowing it to enter into more turmoil. Us leaving the hall is constitutional, and this is the political game we decided to play.”

Tashnag MP Hagop Terzian (Beirut I) refused to state who his party voted for and said “we voted for the person who we see fit to save the country.”

"We voted in favor of our natural candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, whom we support. On the other side, they agreed on a candidate despite their political disagreements," said Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hasan (Baalbeck-Hermel) after the session.

"Lebanon needs a president elected as soon as possible. But this requires understanding and national dialogue, far from one-upmanship," he added, recalling that Hezbollah had "called for dialogue and understanding long before the end of the mandate of former president Michel Aoun."

Asked about the jibes directed at Hezbollah by MP and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil (Batroun) on Tuesday, Hajj Hasan asserted: "Gebran Bassil and we are long-standing allies, and we are looking out for understanding."

Hajj Hasan's colleague MP Hassan Fadlallah (Hezbollah/Bint Jbeil) said that “we are very confident about our candidate.” Asked if Hezbollah might have a different candidate in the future he stated: “We are in favor of dialogue.”

“We abided by an act that is constitutional [by leaving Parliament after voting] and this act is a constitutional part of the democratic game,” Fadlallah said. 

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

Lebanese Forces MP Sethrida Geagea (Bsharri) criticized the refusal of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to resume the vote count.

"What happened is unconstitutional. There should have been another voting round," Geagea told the press present in Parliament after the session.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has not set a new date for the next electoral session. 

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

MP Ahmad al Khair (Minyeh-Dinnieh) — a member of the National Moderation bloc composed of former Future Movement-affiliated MPs — said after the session that “we voted for ‘The New Lebanon’ so we would be a meeting point for all the Lebanese. We are against the loss of the quorum [when some MPs left Parliament after voting], and we will vote for a candidate whom we will announce soon.”

Several MPs, including Forces of Change MP Paula Yacoubian (Beirut I) asked Berri for a recount. However, Berri adjourned the session after claiming only 81 MPs were still in Parliament (out of the 86 needed by the quorum) and left the hall. 

The result of the voting is as follows:

-Jihad Azour: 59 votes;

-Sleiman Franjieh: 51;

-"The New Lebanon": 8;

-Ziad Baroud: 6;

-Joseph Aoun: 1

-1 vote was canceled after an MP wrote on it the name of contractor Jihad al-Arab;

-1 blank ballot

The total number of votes was 127, with one vote missing. However, Berri refused to recount the votes, stating that "one vote does not make a difference," and then stated that "Ziad Baroud received seven votes." 

Some MPs were seen exiting Parliament after casting their votes.

Ten of the 11 previous sessions saw a loss of quorum after the first round of voting, to prevent the second round from occurring. According to Berri's past decisions, each session starts as a first round of voting, that requires 86 votes for a president to be elected. Second rounds only needs 65 votes. 

The 128 MPs have cast their ballots and the votes are currently being counted. 

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

The United States announced in early June that it was considering sanctions against those responsible for blocking the election, in a possible allusion Parliament Speaker Berri, who had not called a session since January. The day after the threat, Berri issued a statement clearing himself of responsibility for the blockage. On Tuesday, senior US diplomat Victoria Nuland tweeted that she had a “constructive” phone call with Berri about the session. "Appreciate his [Berri's] commitment to try to keep quorum and hold open electoral sessions as long as it takes to get the job done," she wrote.

The international community has repeatedly called for Lebanon to elect a new president and implement reforms needed to obtain a financial bailout deal. 

Although France once supported Sleiman Frangieh's candidacy, out of "pragmatism," as part of a swap between the presidency of the Republic and the post of Prime Minister, which would go to the opposition candidate, this initiative seems to have fizzled out. Since then, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has reiterated that France "has no candidate" and Emmanuel Macron has appointed his former head of diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as special envoy for Lebanon. The latter is due to visit Beirut "during the course of next week," according to local Lebanese media.

Constitutional reminder: What does the Lebanese Constitution say about the presidency? The constitution does not mention that the presidency is reserved for any particular confessional group.

However a "gentleman's agreement" between the country's different forces in 1943, at the time of independence, stipulated that the president be a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the Parliament Speaker a Shiite Muslim.

MPs are currently casting their ballots in a box at the middle of the chamber, as they are called up one by one.

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin / L'Orient Today)

Forces of Change MP Melhem Khalaf (Beirut II) spoke at the start of the session to say that he and fellow MP Najat Saliba (Chouf) have been sleeping in Parliament for nearly five months in an attempt to pressure an election.

"People are tired of our games; we need to keep having recurring sessions until the president is elected” per the constitution, Khalaf said, as Berri tried to stop him from speaking.

All 128 of Parliament's MPs are present at Wednesday morning's session. No MP is absent, the first time all deputies are present for a presidential vote since the first election session held in September 2022. 

(Credit: Mohamad Yassin)

Berri opened the presidential electoral session at 11 a.m. The quorum of two-thirds of Parliament, or 86 deputies, was reached. Elected representatives must vote to choose the next head of state to succeed Michel Aoun, whose term of office ended on Oct. 31, 2022.

Quorum point, votes and "Berri jurisprudence" (part II/II): These rules offer members several possibilities for blocking the voting process. If a party wishes to avoid the first round of voting, its members can be instructed not to enter the hemicycle so that the quorum is not reached. This was the case, for example, at the second electoral session called by Berri on October 13, 2022. Similarly, if a party does not want to risk committing to a second round, which requires only 65 votes for election, deputies can blow up the quorum before the second round. This scenario has prevailed at ten of the eleven previous sessions.

Quorum point, votes and "Berri jurisprudence" (part I/II): For the session to take place, 86 deputies, or two-thirds of the total 128 members of Parliament, must be present. Then, to be elected, a candidate must obtain 86 votes in the first round, or 65 in the second. According to the jurisprudence established by Nabih Berri to try to prevent the election of a candidate that is undesirable to his political camp, each new electoral session opens with a first round requiring 86 votes. In this way, passage to subsequent rounds is systematically blocked, making voting by absolute majority alone impossible. Many MPs contest this "jurisprudence."

A protester outside Parliament holds up a banner stating “Forces of Change MPs: we are cursing the moment we voted for you.”

Forces of Change MPs are currently divided regarding who to vote into office as Lebanon's next president. Six have announced they would cast ballots for Jihad Azour, while others criticize him, stating that he is part of the ruling class and that they will vote for an as-yet-unspecified third candidate.  

 (Credit: Mohamad Yassin/L'Orient Today)

Time to catch up: read or reread our profile of Sleiman Frangieh here.

Other names could, however, emerge from the ballot box: opposition MP Elias Jaradeh announced over the weekend that he intends to vote for former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud. He could be followed by several of his colleagues. As has been the case with the previous sessions, symbolic slogans are expected to be slipped in by deputies who do not wish to take a position and choose between the two most popular candidates, or who wish to send a message. These ballots, if they do not contain a first and last name, will be considered invalid and canceled during the count.

Sleiman Frangieh has been officially backed for several months by Hezbollah and the Amal movement, while Jihad Azour's candidacy, made official on Monday, has recently been the subject of an agreement between several opposition parties and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes dynamics and alliances shaping today's race, read our explainer here.  

This morning's session should mark a turning point compared to previous ones: for the first time, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Hezbollah and the Amal movement are not expected to vote blank. Votes are thus likely to be shared mainly between Jihad Azour and Sleiman Frangieh.

The MPs have been summoned for 11 a.m. Beirut time.

Hello,

Thank you for joining us this morning for our live coverage of the 12th parliamentary election session to take place since the end of Michel Aoun's term in October 2022.