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Update 3: Lebanese parliament in 2nd round of voting for president

Xinhua, October 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese parliament proceeded with a second round of voting Monday after presidential candidate Michel Aoun received only 83 votes in the first round in the 128-seat parliament.

Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) who also heads the "Change and Reform" bloc in parliament, was widely expected to be elected, filling up the vacancy left by former president Michel Suleiman, whose six-year term ended in May 2014.

It's not immediately clear if Aoun could get the required simple majority in the second round, as is required by the constitution.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel Karim Ali was among dignitaries invited to observe the election.

Aoun, a Christian former army chief, is allied with the Iran-backed Hezbollah party whose forces are fighting in Syria alongside forces of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The expected election of Aoun as president came after the surprise endorsement of his candidacy by Saad Hariri, a former prime minister now heading al-Mustaqbal Movement.

A fierce opponent of the Assad government in Syria, Hariri is the leader of a bloc that rivals Hezbollah and enjoys the support of Saudi Arabia.

Aoun, if elected, is expected to nominate Hariri to return as prime minister, but with little consensus in the political landscape, the process of forming a government is likely to be long and arduous.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014.

Since then, parliament has held 45 failed sessions to elect a successor, each time failing to make quorum.

According to the constitution, the president should be elected with two thirds of votes in the 128-seat parliament in the first round, and with a simple majority in the following rounds.

The power sharing pact stipulates that the president should be a Christian Maronite, the speaker a Muslim Shiite and the premier a Muslim Sunni. Endit