Delay in Presidential Poll to Postpone Parliamentary Elections to 2015

Vacancy at the helm of the country's top Christian post is expected to remain until the end of the Summer, prompting the parliamentary elections to be postponed until 2015.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Thursday, Lebanon will enter on August 20 a deadline to agree on a new electoral law ahead of the November elections but priority at the time would be for electing a new head of state.

The report said that the political arch-foes will reach consensus and elect a new president by October or November.

An informed source told the newspaper that the political arch-foes would in a later stage agree on a hybrid electoral law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems, expecting the parliamentary elections to be staged in May or June 2015.

In May 2013, the parliament voted to extend its own mandate for 17 months after the rival political parties failed to reach a new electoral law.

Around 100 MPs from all blocs, except the Change and Reform bloc, voted to extend parliament's term until November 20, 2014.

The daily stated several reasons behind the delay in electing a new president, including negotiations between Iran and the United States, Russia, France and Germany - members of the P5+1 – on the Islamic state's nuclear program and the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.

The report continued that the two developments would put consultations between the rival political parties in Lebanon on the right track.

Lebanon has been plunged into a leadership vacuum after Michel Suleiman's presidential term ended on May 25 with rival political blocs still divided over a new leader.

Over the past two months the parliament convened five times to try to elect a successor to Suleiman but failed during the last four sessions due to a lack of quorum.

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