Aoun President today by the required two thirds votes

Today, when the parliament Speaker announces the beginning of the electoral process, the parliamentary session will start with the legal quorum, unlike the previous ones of which the last was on 28 September 2016.

Thus, the 47th parliamentary session will end with the 13th president of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, who waited 26 years to come back to Baabda.

All facts indicate that General Michel Aoun would get the 2/3 majority required legally to win from the first round after he will harvest almost 90 votes, where as 26 white papers, including 16 which would have carried the name of MP Sleiman Franjieh before he kind of announced the withdrawal of his candidacy by asking the MPs who want to vote for him to cast a white ballot.

However, the Kataeb parliamentary bloc would be distinguished by five ballots to its 5 members.

The process of the session, chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri, who insisted on securing the legal quorum, will convene in the presence of 73 invited officials, including Former presidents and Ambassadors. The session will start by reciting the article 49 of the constitution, which states that "the president is the head of the state and the symbol of homeland unity. He is elected by a secret ballot by a majority of two-thirds of the House of Representatives in the first round and by getting the absolute majority in the polling sessions that come after."

Articles 73 and 74 of the constitution related to the president will also be announced, as well as articles 11 and 12 of the bylaws which consider every envelop that contains more than one paper or a distinctive mark uncounted and states that ballots should carry only the name of the candidate without any titles.

After casting the ballots, the youngest of the MPs will count them and the secretary would supervise the sorting.

Upon announcing the result, the Speaker asks to ratify the record and announces the end of the session. Then, he announces the beginning of a new session and asks the elected president to swear loyalty to the nation and the constitution as mentioned by article 50 of the constitution. Then afterwards, the elected president delivers his inaugural address.

Source: NNA