Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab. (Credit: NNA/ File photo)
BEIRUT — Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab on Friday called for early parliamentary elections in an attempt to break the presidential election deadlock, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Lebanon has been without a president since November 2022 following the end of Michel Aoun's term in office. Since then, Parliament has repeatedly failed his successor.
Wednesday marked the twelfth failed presidential electoral session.
"I suggested to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to hold early parliamentary elections in case we fail to elect a president," said Bou Saab, after a meeting with Berri. "Dialogue is our best option, and the Parliament speaker intends to call a new electoral session."
Lebanon, ravaged by an unprecedented economic crisis, finds itself in a deep political impasse. Berri has yet to set a date for the next electoral session and on Wednesday called for broader dialogue to break the deadlock.
Bou Saab — a member of Gebran Bassil's Free Patriotic Movement but also close to Berri — has been touring various political parties since May in an attempt to advance negotiations on the presidential election.