Berri sets presidential election session for Thursday

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled a second presidential election session for Thursday, October 13.

The session will be held at 11:00 am.

Parliament had held a first presidential election round on September 29 in which no candidate managed to garner 86 votes needed to win from the first round.

As 63 MPs from the blocs of Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement, the AMAL Movement and their allies cast blank ballots, 36 voted for MP Michel Mouawad, 11 voted for entrepreneur and philanthropist Salim Edde, 10 voted for "Lebanon", one voted for Mahsa Amini who died in Iranian morality police custody, and one voted for "the approach of (slain ex-PM) Rashid Karami".

Dozens of MPs walked out of the session after the results of the first round were announced, stripping the second round of the needed 86-MP quorum. This prompted Berri to announce that he would not call for another session before "consensus" is secured over a certain candidate.

Deep divisions among MPs have raised fears that Lebanon could be left without a president for months after President Michel Aoun's mandate runs out at the end of October.

The incumbent's own election in 2016 came after a 29-month vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach consensus on a candidate.

In the first round of voting, a two-thirds majority of 86 votes is required for a candidate to win. When the election goes to a second round, the required majority falls to 65. However, according to Berri, 86 MPs need to be present in parliament in order for the second round to be held.