BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese lawmakers began voting in a presidential election on Thursday, aiming to fill a post which has been vacant since 2022, with political sources expecting army commander General Joseph Aoun to be elected.
The election of Aoun, who heads Lebanon’s U.S.-backed military and enjoys Washington’s approval, would show the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
Aoun requires the support of 86 of parliament’s 128 lawmakers to be elected. A second round of voting will be held if no candidate secures victory in the first round.
The post, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes.
(Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by William Maclean)
