All You Need To Know About Lebanon’s 12th Presidential Election Session

Today, June 14, 2023, saw Lebanon’s parliament hold its 12th presidential election session since Michel Aoun vacated his post on October 31, 2022. The session was mainly seen as a “race” between IMF regional director Jihad Azour and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh.

The session officially opened at 11:00 AM, with the full quorum of 128 MPs present. MP Melhem Khalaf attempted to begin the session by registering a complaint about the voting process, but was quickly shut down by Speaker Nabih Berri. The voting process then began with MPs submitting their ballots into the box one-by-one in alphabetical order.

The 12th presidential election has officially kicked off.

With Jihad Azour and Suleiman Frangieh squaring up for Lebanon's top post, we'll be here with all the updates as the session goes on.

— Beirut.com (@BeirutCityGuide) June 14, 2023

The votes were then counted by hand by the Speaker and parliamentary leadership, with the final vote tally of the first round announced to be as follows:

Jihad Azour: 59
Suleiman Frangieh: 51
Lubnan Al-Jadeed: 8
Ziad Baroud: 6 (7)
Joseph Aoun: 1
Blank: 1
Cancelled: 1

MPs from Forces of Changes and Kataeb were quick to register their complaints about the count, which initially yielded a total of 127 votes. Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed their complaints, insisting to add a vote for Ziad Baroud instead. The session was then officially closed with the speaker exiting and the live broadcast shut down.

As the first round round was winding down, MPs from Hezbollah and Haraket Amal began to exit the assembly, ensuring that quorum would fail before the voting threshold would be dropped to just 65 votes in the second round.

Final Vote Tally for the First Round of Lebanon's 12th Presidential Election Session

Jihad Azour: 59
Suleiman Frangieh: 51
Lubnan Al-Jadeed: 8
Ziad Baroud: 6 (7)
Joseph Aoun: 1
Blank: 1
Cancelled: 1

MPs present: 128

— Beirut.com (@BeirutCityGuide) June 14, 2023

Thus, Lebanon’s 12th presidential election session ended just like the 11 before it, with no candidate elected to fill the top of Lebanon’s leadership. A mere 226 days since Michel Aoun left office, Lebanon looks set to continue down its presidential vaccuum.

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