While it is expected that today's session of the House of Representatives will not bring any changes at the level of parliamentary committees, all political stances indicate that the upcoming session scheduled for electing a new President of the Republic next Thursday, the twentieth of this month, may mirror previous ones. The positions of political forces remain unchanged, and there are no signs suggesting any progress that would facilitate the achievement of the presidential election within the constitutional deadline, which ends at the end of this month.
Political sources monitoring the situation spoke of a clear difficulty in electing a president due to the deep divide within the parliament. This phenomenon has been entrenched in Lebanon since 2005. Had it not been for the Doha Agreement, the deputies would not have been able to elect President Michel Sleiman at that time. A similar scenario unfolded in Lebanon after Sleiman's term ended, leading to a presidential vacuum that lasted until 2016. Again, had it not been for the agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement at that time, the deputies would not have been able to elect Michel Aoun as President.
The sources, speaking to "Al-Anbaa," ruled out the possibility of electing a president without prior consensus on a candidate who possesses the qualities of a savior for the country, in addition to securing the legal quorum. This is considered a mandatory passage for the success of the electoral process, and without it, no party will be able to bring forth its candidate. This indicates that Thursday's session is likely to have a similar fate to the last two sessions.
