Lebanon has not had a president since October 2022

3/10/2024 5:56

        Israel's offensive against
        Hezbollah in Lebanon has prompted a renewed bid by some leading
        Lebanese politicians to fill a two-year-long presidential
        vacuum, an effort to revive the paralysed state as it grapples
        with an escalating conflict.
        
        Lebanon has not had a president or a fully empowered cabinet
        since October 2022 due to a power struggle in which Hezbollah
        has played a big part. Along with its allies, the heavily armed
        Shi'ite Muslim group has insisted the post, reserved for a
        Maronite Christian, go to their Christian ally Suleiman
        Frangieh.
        
        With Hezbollah reeling from the killing of its leader Sayyed
        Hassan Nasrallah, the presidency came into renewed focus this
        week when Shi'ite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key
        Hezbollah ally, indicated flexibility on the matter, telling
        Prime Minister Najib Mikati he supported the election of a
        president who doesn't represent "a challenge" to anyone.
        
        A Hezbollah official told Reuters the group had delegated
        Berri to negotiate on its behalf over the presidency.
        
        The presidency is decided by a vote in Lebanon's 128-seat
        parliament. No single political alliance has enough seats to
        impose its choice, meaning an understanding among rival blocs is
        needed to secure the election of a candidate.
        
        Following a meeting on Wednesday with Berri and Druze leader
        Walid Jumblatt, Mikati - a Sunni Muslim - read a joint statement
        calling for the election of a "consensus president who will
        reassure everyone and dispel their concerns".
        
        The statement did not name any candidates.
        
        Israel is waging a major offensive against Hezbollah which
        has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since Sept. 16 and
        uprooted one million.
        
        Wael Abu Faour, a senior lawmaker from Jumblatt's faction,
        told Reuters the election of a consensus president would send "a
        message to the outside world that there is a strong government
        in the country ready to negotiate" over a ceasefire.
        
        He said the meeting of the three leaders did not represent
        the formation of a new alliance and that factions including
        Christian parties were being engaged in discussions on the
        presidency.
        
        The Lebanese Forces party, a major Christian faction and
        fierce Hezbollah opponent, on Monday called for the election of
        a president, saying this was the only way for "the state to
        assume its responsibilities on its own" - implicit criticism of
        Hezbollah over its possession of a massive arsenal of weapons.
        
        Lebanon's last president, Michel Aoun, was a former army
        commander and a political ally of Hezbollah.
        
        A senior Western diplomat who did not wish to be named said
        Western and Arab nations had been urging Lebanon's politicians
        to elect a president, adding that it was also in the interest of
        Hezbollah for the political conundrum to be resolved so the
        state could take more of the "weight" of the Israel crisis.
        
        Abu Faour said the three leaders also discussed avoiding
        internal tensions in Lebanon as a result of the displacement of
        hundreds of thousands of people from Hezbollah-controlled areas
        into other parts of the country.