Mikati denies granting citizenship to a number of people

The Lebanese parliament has failed for the fourth time to elect a president

Nabih Berri looks at Lebanese deputies counting votes during the parliament session to elect a new president for Lebanon.

EPA

Yesterday, the Lebanese parliament failed, for the fourth time in a row, to elect a new president in light of deep divisions that raise fears of a vacuum in the presidency after the expiration of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of this month, while the media office of the caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, denied what was being circulated about He signed a decree granting Lebanese citizenship to a number of people.

Parliament's failure to elect a candidate so far indicates that the electoral process may take a long time, which further complicates the situation in the country mired in a severe financial crisis, and where the constitutional deadlines are rarely respected.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for another session, in principle, to be held on Thursday, with the date to be confirmed later.

Fifty deputies voted with a blank sheet of paper, while MP Michel Moawad, supported by the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea and other blocs, including the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's bloc, received 39 votes.

And 10 independent deputies voted for university professor Issam Khalifa.

Major blocs, including Hezbollah, the most prominent political and military force, oppose Moawad and describe him as a "challenging" candidate.

Mouawad is known for his closeness to the Americans.

Elias Hankash, a deputy from the Kataeb Party who voted for Moawad, told AFP, "No bloc in parliament is capable of imposing a president," accusing Hezbollah deputies and its allies, the Amal Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement, of "blowing the quorum of sessions" by withdrawing. In the second session.

He added: "Whoever disrupts is trying to reach a settlement."

Monday's session failed despite a two-thirds majority in the first session, before deputies withdrew to overthrow the quorum in the second session.

In the first round of voting, a candidate needs a two-thirds majority, ie 86 votes, to win.

In the event of a second round, the required majority will have 65 votes.

The election of a president often takes months in Lebanon, a country based on the logic of compromise and quotas between political and sectarian forces.

Aoun was elected president in 2016 after a presidential vacancy that lasted more than two years.

Because of the same divisions that prevent the election of a president, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati's efforts to form a government since the parliamentary elections that took place in mid-May have not been fruitful in a country whose system is based on quotas between political and sectarian components.

This comes at a time when Najib Mikati's media office said, in a press statement yesterday: "There is circulating through some media and social networking sites that President Mikati has signed a decree regarding granting Lebanese citizenship to a number of people."

He added, "All that is said in this regard is just baseless news, with the aim of confusion and sowing confusion, and President Mikati's firm position in this regard is that he will not sign any naturalization decree."

In addition, a Lebanese depositor stormed a bank in the south of the country yesterday, and threatened to set his body on fire, and was able to obtain part of his deposit, after the security forces intervened.

The depositor entered the Bank of Lebanon and the Diaspora, the Sidon branch, and closed the door from the inside, preventing entry and exit from the bank, and threatening to set his body on fire.

The depositor demanded to obtain a portion of his deposit, specifically the amount of $5,000, to cover the cost of an urgent operation for his infant son, who is not more than two months old, and who suffers from a hole in the heart.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said yesterday that the US-brokered maritime border demarcation agreement between Israel and Lebanon will be signed on Thursday.

The agreement represents an important settlement between two countries with a history of war and hostility, and opens the way for the exploration of marine energy resources and eases a source of tensions.

The US mediator said he hoped the deal would be signed on Thursday.

• Parliament's failure indicates that the electoral process may take a long time.

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