House Speaker Nabih Berri has called the parliament to meet at 11:00 am on Thursday, October 13, to elect a new president of the republic.
Thursday’s session will be the second as the parliament convened on September 29 for the presidential elections. The first session did not lead to a new president as 63 lawmaker cast a blank ballot and the rest of the 122 parliamentarians voted for different candidates.
The second session is expected to clarify the list of candidates and the parliamentary alliances which would secure the required majority to win the vote.
The votes of two-thirds of lawmakers in the 128-member legislature are required for a candidate to be successful in the first round of voting, after which a simple majority suffices. President Michel Aoun’s six-year term ends on October 31.
Source: Al-Manar English Website and NNA
