Date set to elect Lebanon president

Lebanon’s parliament speaker has called on lawmakers to convene on April 23 to elect the country’s new president as former military chief, Samir Geagea, will likely capture the post.

The announcement on Wednesday by Nabih Berri comes as the Lebanese parliamentary session, which is set for next week, will most likely fail to elect a president since no candidate appears prepared to secure two-thirds of the vote by parliament members, the Daily Star reported.

According to the report, the session may not even achieve a quorum.

Geagea took another step in his presidential campaign by boasting a raft of political, economic, security and judicial reforms that he claims would increase the state’s power and secure Lebanon.

“Lebanon today has been robbed of its will and decision, and the state is undermined and paralyzed and close to becoming a failed state,” Geagea said in a speech before dozens of supporters at his fortress-like residence in Maarab, north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

“National responsibility requires us to stand together to break the chains of fear, anxiety and chaos and hurry to save the republic,” he said.

Geagea faces an uphill struggle in gaining the support of his rivals, having been a staunch critic of the Hezbollah resistance movement.

The current Lebanese President Michel Sleiman’s six-year term ends in May. Lebanon began a two-month consultation period to elect a new president in March.