Despite the passage of nearly two weeks since the March 25 start of the constitutional period for electing a new Lebanese president, the situation in Beirut appears unmoved on the issue. There has been no indication of when parliament Speaker Nabih Berri will hold the first electoral session to put out feelers and explore attitudes. Furthermore, there are well-known, major difficulties standing in the way of assembling the constitutionally required quorum, that is, two-thirds of the number of deputies, or 86 deputies out of the 128.
It is clear that the “presidential deal,” as they call it in Lebanon, is dependent on external cues that are either not yet clear or have not yet reached the Lebanese capital. Given the severe split between the March 14 and March 8 alliances, the two main parties, both sides know that they cannot alone secure a quorum or a victory (requiring 86 votes) for their candidate on the first ballot or in subsequent balloting (requiring a simple majority, or 65 votes).
