by Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: As lawmakers prepare to head to Parliament to try to elect a president Wednesday, many Lebanese say they are not optimistic about the 45th attempt to end the presidential vacuum, now in its third year. “Let them first take the trash off the streets before electing a president,” 18-year-old Anaan Shab told The Daily Star from the center of Hamra. Amira Shatila, Shab’s co-worker in Hamra, echoed his comments, telling The Daily Star “nothing will change Wednesday and no president will be elected.”

A Parliament session has been scheduled and the 128 members are called on to attend and vote for the candidate they deem best to fill the vacant seat. At least 86 MPs are required to reach quorum. By law, a two-thirds majority must vote for one candidate if the first ballot at the session is to produce a president-elect. In a second poll, 65 votes – half plus one majority – would secure the election of the winning candidate.

Not all shared Shab’s pessimism, however. “There is a possibility that we will have a president Wednesday,” 62-year-old Ibrahim Ghaddar told The Daily Star as he walked down Hamra’s main street. When asked if he had a particular candidate in mind, Ghaddar said, “Michel Aoun will become the president.”