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Parliament to defer election of Lebanon’s next president

The Lebanese electoral session will be a “feeler” to determine the sizes of the various forces.
Parliament members give the newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence in Beirut March 20, 2014. Lebanon's parliament gave a newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence on Thursday, ending almost a year of political deadlock during which the country has been pulled further into the civil war in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS)     BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE - RTR3JS87
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The Lebanese parliament convenes on April 23 in the first session to try to elect a new president. However, the political forces and all external parties know that a president will not be elected in this session.

According to the Lebanese constitution, a parliamentary session to elect a president of the republic must be attended by at least two-thirds of the deputies, i.e., 86 deputies out of 128. To become president, a candidate must win 86 votes in the first voting round of a session and 65 votes in the second round of the same session. But if that does not happen and another session is scheduled, it will be considered a separate session and will require the candidate to win 86 votes in the first round, or 65 votes in the second or subsequent rounds.

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