Lebanon’s parliament will convene on January 9 to elect a president, a position that has remained vacant for more than two years, according to an official media report.
The announcement comes a day after a ceasefire agreement ended the conflict between Israel and the powerful pro-Iranian Hezbollah organisation.
The state news agency ANI reported that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri had called on lawmakers to convene on January 9 for a session to elect the President of the Republic.
Since the term of President Michel Aoun ended on October 31, 2022, disagreements between Hezbollah, which is also a political party, and its opponents have prevented the election of a head of state, as neither bloc holds a majority in parliament.
However, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, who succeeded Hassan Nasrallah after his death in an Israeli strike in late September, pledged in a speech on November 20 to effectively contribute to the election of a president.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed hope that the ceasefire agreement would mark “a new chapter” in Lebanon’s history and called for the swift election of a president.
Berri, who leads the influential Shiite movement Amal, an ally of Hezbollah, also supported “expediting the election of a president.” He emphasised that the president must “unite rather than divide” the Lebanese people, whose divisions were exacerbated by the war.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian, the prime minister’s post for a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament’s position for a Shiite Muslim.
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Source: ANA-MPA
