Lebanon lawmakers fail for sixth time to elect president

45 blank ballots cast

Lebanese lawmakers failed for a sixth time on Thursday to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun. Parliament is split between supporters of the powerful Iranbacked Hezbollah movement and its opponents, neither of whom have a clear majority. Lawmaker Michel Moawad, who is seen as close to the United States, won the support of 43 of parliament’s 128 MPS. But his tally was outnumbered by the 45 blank ballots cast by pro-hezbollah lawmakers. “It’s a complete deadlock,” independent lawmaker Mark Daou said. “We will not have a president before next year.” In each of the six sessions convened to elect a new president so far, the prohezbollah bloc has walked out before lawmakers could hold a second round of voting which would have reduced the number of ballots needed for victory from 86 to 65. — afp