BEIRUT — Lebanon’s speaker
Nabih Berri
called Tuesday for parliament to meet this week to elect a president to replace
Michel Aoun whose term expires at the end of October.
اضافة اعلان
“Berri called for a session to be held at 11am (8:00
GMT) on Thursday September 29, 2022 in order to elect a president,” a statement
from his office said.
The session will mark the first attempt by lawmakers
to elect a new head of state at a time when the country is in the grips of a
financial crisis described by the
World Bank as one of the worst in modern
times.
But it comes without any consensus on a replacement
for Aoun amid a months-long political deadlock that has prevented the formation
of a new government since the outgoing one’s mandate expired in May.
With no compromise in sight among Lebanon’s bitterly
divided politicians, it may take several sessions of parliament before a
president is finally named.
The post lay vacant for more than two years before
Aoun was elected in 2016.
But with more than 80 percent of the population living in
poverty and the currency having lost more than 95 percent of its value against
the dollar since 2019, Lebanon can ill afford any delays.
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