Lebanon fails to elect a president in first round with army commander Gen Joseph Aoun as frontrunner

Country has been without a president since October 2022

Lebanon’s parliament was expected to elect a president on Thursday, filling a vacuum that has lasted more than two years, but failed to do so. AP

Lebanese MPs failed to elect a president in the first round of voting on Thursday, but officials expressed hope that a second round would lead to the election of a head of state after more than two years of deadlock.

Parliament was moving closer to electing army commander Gen Joseph Aoun as the 60-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel approaches its end on January 26, high-level officials from the major political parties in Lebanon indicated to The National.

In the first session, he secured 71 out of the 86 votes needed in the 128-member house. A second voting session will take place later on Thursday.

While 12 attempts have failed to choose a successor to former president Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022, there were indications that Thursday's vote may produce a head of state.

"The president will be elected during the second round," Prime Minister Najib Mikati said after the first session.

Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. However, on Wednesday Mr Frangieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Mr Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.

Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons.

Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias Al Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.

A president is needed to appoint a permanent prime minister and cabinet. The caretaker government that has run Lebanon for the past two years has reduced powers because it was not appointed by a sitting president.

The next government will face daunting challenges, including implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction. Electing a president during the truce with Israel is a key component of the ceasefire agreement that ended the war with Hezbollah, according to three official sources in Beirut, who spoke to The National in November. Lebanon is seeking to fill a vacancy that has left the country without a head of state since October 2022.

Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day. The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bailout package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.

Additional reporting by Nada Maucourant Atallah in Beirut and Vanessa Ghanem in Abu Dhabi