by english.alaraby.co.uk -- MENA -- Lebanon's parliament failed on Monday for a fourth time to elect a successor to President Michel Aoun, with lawmakers divided over a candidate opposed by the powerful Hezbollah movement. Already governed by a caretaker cabinet, crisis-hit Lebanon is hurtling towards an imminent power vacuum, with just days before the current president's term finishes at the end of the month. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri called for another vote on Thursday in the hope of overcoming long-running arguments. A total of 50 lawmakers in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament left their votes blank, many from Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies. Their rivals mostly backed lawmaker Michel Moawad, whose father René Moawad was a former president. He has emerged as a frontrunner since parliament first met to name a president last month. But Moawad, who won 39 votes on Monday, was still was far short the 86 ballots – two-thirds of seats – needed to win.

University professor and activist Issam Khalife took 10 votes, cast by independent lawmakers who emerged from a mass 2019 anti-government protest movement, as well as others. But the required quorum was lost before a second round could be held, after some lawmakers walked out – a recurring scenario in past votes. Moawad's supporters accused Hezbollah and its allies of obstructing a second round of voting to negotiate with other blocs, effectively preventing the election. "No bloc in parliament can impose a president, not Hezbollah nor anyone else," said Elias Hankash, a lawmaker from the Kataeb Party that supports Moawad. Hankash accused lawmakers who left parliament of "systematic disruption", because there were not enough lawmakers to make a vote legitimate.

By Elias Turk Beirut, Lebanon - cna -- - Lebanese President Michel Aoun this week called on French company Total Energy to begin exploring for natural gas after a major diplomatic breakthrough between Lebanon and Israel. The two countries recently announced a draft deal that could end a long-running dispute affecting the oil-rich maritime border between the two countries. For Lebanon’s president, a Christian, this was a rare bit of potentially good news in recent months, if not years. The ongoing turmoil and insecurity affecting the Christian community in an economically unraveling Lebanon is the consequence of long decades of political corruption, a constantly destabilized Middle Eastern country, and short-sighted governmental planning. Economic chaos followed the events of October 2019, when the Lebanese government imposed new taxes on tobacco, gasoline, and smartphone apps for making calls, including WhatsApp. This caused nationwide protests that eventually led to the government’s resignation — and made the nation’s liquidity crisis fully apparent.

The fragile Lebanese economy fell into hyperinflation. Then COVID-19 began spreading in the country in February 2020, deepening the crisis, and an explosion in Beirut’s port on Aug. 4, 2020, killed nearly 230 people and injured approximately 6,000 more, destroying tens of thousands of apartments. For the nation’s Christian community, these developments have added yet another layer of strain and anxiety to the constant existential threat they have been facing for decades in the Middle East. This month brought another reminder of the community’s vulnerable condition. The end of October marks the expiration of the Lebanese president’s six-year term. The presidency has been held by a Maronite Catholic since 1943. With no new candidate elected yet, a constitutional void at the level of presidency is expected from the first of November.

by asumetech.com -- The Central Bank of Lebanon said today, Sunday, that it will stop buying dollars through its “exchange” platform, starting October 25, until further notice. The statement added that the bank will continue to sell dollars exclusively through its platform, according to Reuters. Bankers said the move aims to support the Lebanese pound after it traded to a new low of over £ 40,000 per dollar last week. The lira has lost more than 95 percent of its value since 2019, when it was valued at 1,500 before the country’s economic meltdown began.

The Lebanese financial crisis, which has lasted for three years, has pushed three quarters of the population into poverty, as food prices have risen more than 11 times, with the latest price hike in supermarkets in recent days. Having pegged the currency for decades, the Central Bank of Lebanon currently offers multiple exchange rates, including a flexible exchange rate. It is worth noting that Lebanese Finance Minister Youssef Al-Khalil said the state should not be “solely” responsible for paying depositors whose deposits have been frozen by the economic crisis.

NNA – President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab. The President awarded Deputy Speaker …