The House of Representatives fails to elect the Army Commander as President of Lebanon

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri suspended a session held today, Thursday, to elect the country’s president, for two hours of consultation, after Army Commander Joseph Aoun did not obtain the votes required to win the position.

Aoun needs 86 votes to be elected, but he received only 71 votes.

Two political sources said that he is likely to obtain the required number of votes in a second session on Thursday.

The Lebanese Army Commander fails to obtain the majority required to be elected president in the first round

The Lebanese Army Commander failed to obtain the majority required to be elected president in the first round, after gaining the support of 71 deputies out of a total of 128 who participated in the electoral process.

The candidate is supposed to obtain a two-thirds majority, or 86 votes, in the first round, to become president.

The Speaker of Parliament announced that Aoun received the support of 71 deputies, compared to 37 deputies voting on a white paper. Twenty other papers were deemed cancelled.