The fragmented Lebanese Legislative failed again this Thursday when electing a head of state, prolonging the vacuum that began ten days ago in the country’s Presidency due to the inability of the parliamentary blocs to agree on a successor for Michel Aoun.
The most voted candidate was once again Michel Moawad, son of the murdered former Lebanese president Rene Moawad and who obtained the support of 44 of the 108 deputies present today in the Chamber, well below the absolute majority, established at 65, necessary to be appointed .
Another 47 legislators opted for the blank vote, while the academic Issam Khalifa garnered six ballots in favor.
In this way, the same scenario has been repeated as in the rest of the votes carried out in the last two months, in which the prevalence of blank votes made it impossible to appoint Moawad, opposed to the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah.
The Shiite party alliance, which includes the formation of the last head of state, lost the majority that he held in the parliamentary elections last May, but still controls enough seats to impose his will in the vote.
The coalition has opted for the blank vote in the different sessions and has not made public its support for any candidate.
The Lebanese Presidency has been empty since the mandate of the outgoing head of state expired on October 31, at a time when the country’s government also lacks full powers, since it has been in the interim since last June.
Lebanon often suffers from political blockades and this is not the first time that there has been a vacuum in the head of state, the last of which occurred between 2014 and 2016, and ended with a minimum agreement to allow the appointment of Aoun.