The presidential crisis in Lebanon has gone beyond the competition over names and has reached the point of searching for a new formula for the Lebanese system. This may pave the way for settlements that French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian will work on through his mediator role, as well as what is currently happening in decision-making capitals in other countries.

To date, twelve sessions have been held to elect a new president for the republic in Lebanon, but they have not produced a president due to the absence of consensus that usually precedes the election of any president, as was the case in the first republic in 1943 and even in the second republic after the Taif Agreement in 1989.

The parliament consists of 128 deputies who are directly elected by the people, distributed in small and large constituencies according to the latest electoral law approved by the parliament.

According to Article 49 of the constitution, the president of the republic is elected in the first round of voting by a two-thirds majority, i.e. 86 deputies. A simple majority (half +1) is sufficient in subsequent rounds if the quorum is formed with the presence of 86 deputies.

As per Lebanese practice, the presidential term is six years and not renewable, and he cannot be re-elected until six years have passed since the end of the first term. However, this rule was breached twice during the terms of former presidents Elias Hrawi (1989-1998) and Emile Lahoud (1998-2007).

Article 73 of the Lebanese constitution states that "before the end of the presidential term by at least one month or at most two months, the parliament shall convene upon the invitation of its president to elect a new president. If the parliament does not call for this purpose, it shall meet by law on the tenth day preceding the end of the president's term."

Article 75 also indicates that "the parliament convened to elect the president of the republic is an electoral body, not a legislative body, and it is incumbent upon it to immediately proceed with the election of the head of state without discussing any other matter."

As we have previously noted, the presidential election is a constitutional obligation that the parliament must carry out before the end of the president's term. However, in the second republic after the Taif Agreement in 1989, Lebanon and its parliament were unable to elect a president before the end of the previous president's term, resulting in either an extension or a vacuum in the presidency. This is due to the nature of the Lebanese composition and the complex sectarian system that governs the country's affairs, where finding a way out of the current crisis is impossible without an international regional settlement that restores the constitutional obligations and the prestige of Lebanese institutions, or by providing conditions for a national dialogue that leads to the election of a president outside of the current factions.

Therefore, the National Duo - Amal Movement and Hezbollah - through repeated calls made by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, appeal to all Lebanese parties to hold an internal dialogue table where parliamentary blocs' concerns and aspirations for electing a president and building the state are discussed. They also emphasize that they want a president who is reassuring for the Resistance, brave, and puts national interest above his fear, where he cannot be bought or sold. They stress that they do not want a president who covers or protects the Resistance since it is capable of protecting itself, but they want a president who does not stab it in the back. It is worth mentioning that the country is currently facing a single serious candidate named Suleiman Frangieh, who is loyal to Lebanon and its people and his love of Lebanon is known in world capitals.

The National Duo was the first to propose Suleiman Frangieh as a natural candidate for the presidency after the end of President Emile Lahoud's term, but circumstances were not favorable for his election at that time. Michel Sleiman preceded him to Baabda after the Doha Agreement in May 2008 until 2014, followed by a presidential vacuum that lasted two and a half years until the arrival of General Michel Aoun in 2016 until 2022.

Who is Suleiman Frangieh?

Suleiman Tony Frangieh, 57, is a former deputy and minister and one of the most prominent allies of the National Duo (Amal Movement and Hezbollah), close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has a wide regional and international network of relations, especially with France, the compassionate mother of Lebanon as some call it.

Suleiman Frangieh comes from a prominent political family, where his late grandfather Suleiman Frangieh was a former president of Lebanon between 1970 and 1976, during which the Lebanese civil war broke out. He heads the Marada Movement, where his geographical influence is in Zgharta district (north of Lebanon) with a Maronite Christian majority. His opinions are as pure as Lebanese snow and his steadfastness extends from the Cedars of Lebanon.

Throughout this period, Suleiman Frangieh has always been a natural candidate at every station, with his political and popular presence and his honorable national history qualifying him to be the president of all Lebanon. However, the electoral law that allows a candidate to reach the presidency is not an easy matter, but rather governed by complexities that can only be resolved through consensus among the balanced Lebanese blocs in parliament, especially after the complex composition of the council produced by the 2022 elections.

In this context, the constitutional law specialist and university professor Wissam Lahham says in a study published in "Legal Notebook" that "one of the signs of the decline of states is the installation of politics as a judge over the law, while the correct approach is to enable the latter (the law) to contain political conflict within legal frameworks."