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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Lebanon |
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An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 5 November 1970, resulting in Deputy Suleiman Frangieh being elected President of the Lebanese Republic.
The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage. Its major functions are to elect the President of the republic, to approve the government, and to approve laws and expenditure.
By convention, the presidency is always attributed to a Maronite Christian. Under the article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution, a qualified majority of two-thirds of the members of the then 99-seat Lebanese Parliament is required to elect the president in the first round. After the second round of election, the president is elected by an absolute majority of the total number of deputies in office. [1]
The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multiconfessional state, having shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shia, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943, allowing Lebanon to be independent.
A majority is the greater part, or more than half, of the total. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements.
Suleiman Frangieh, a deputy representing Zgharta in North Lebanon, posed as a conservative consensus candidate, gaining the support from both the left and right and across religious factions due to backlash from the 12 continuous years of reform from the Chehabist regimes. In what was possibly the most controversial presidential election in Lebanon, he was elected by the thinnest margin possible - on a 1 vote difference - on the 17 August 1970 by 50 of the 99 Representatives.
Fuad Abdullah Chehab was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1958 to 1964.
All 99 MPs were present. Usually, a consensus candidate would have been agreed before-hand, however in this case both Frangieh and Sarkis had roughly equal support In the first round, a majority of two-thirds of present deputies was required; in the second and subsequent rounds, however, only a simple majority was needed. [2]
In the first round, no one received the 2/3 threshold needed, therefore the election proceeded to the second round. In that round, however, an extra ballot was cast (there were 100 votes in the urn and only 99 deputies in total), therefore the round was negated. In the third round, Frangieh won an upset victory over Élias Sarkis, the official candidate of the Chehabist regime, due to a last minute change of Kamal Jumblatt, who ordered one of his deputies to vote for Frangieh [3] . The Speaker of the Chamber, Sabri Hamadeh, refused to announce the results on a 1-vote difference and walked out of the parliament building. As he exited the chamber, Deputy Speaker Michel Georges Sassine exercised his functions as Acting Speaker and declared Suleiman Frangieh the 10th President of the Lebanese Republic [4] .
Sabri Hamadeh (1902-1976) was a Lebanese politician and long-time Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament.
Michel Georges Sassine was a prominent Lebanese politician. He was a member of the Lebanese parliament for twenty-four consecutive years (1968–1992) representing the district of Ashrafieh, Beirut. He served several times as Vice-Prime Minister, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and cabinet Minister. He founded the Ministry of Housing and Cooperatives, and was appointed as Minister of Labor, Tourism and others in more than seven governments. Throughout his political career he was renowned for his strong ethics and anti-corruption principles. He took the lead on several historic turning points including the 1970 Presidential election, and the Taif Agreement in 1990.
The President of the Lebanese Republic is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of six years, which is not immediately renewable. By convention, the president is always a Maronite Christian.
Candidate | First round | Second round | Third round | |||
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Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Suleiman Frangieh | 38 | 38.4 | 50 | 50.5 | ||
Élias Sarkis | 45 | 45.5 | 49 | 49.5 | ||
Pierre Gemayel | 10 | 10.1 | ||||
Jamil Lahoud | 5 | 5.1 | ||||
Adnan Hakim | 1 | 1.0 | ||||
Extra ballot | 0 | – | 1 | – | 0 | – |
Total | 99 | 100 | 100 | – | 99 | 100 |
Eligible voters/turnout | 99 | 100 | 99 | – | 99 | 100 |
Source: The Monthly |
About 5 years later, the Lebanese Civil War began as armed right-wing Christian militias began clashing more often with left-wing Muslim PLO militias in Beirut.
The President of the Czech Republic is the elected formal head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Military of the Czech Republic. Unlike counterparts in other Central European countries such as Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech president has a considerable role in political affairs. Because many powers can only be exercised with the signatures of both the President and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, responsibility over some political issues is effectively shared between the two offices.
René Moawad as 13th President of Lebanon for 17 days in 1989, from the 5 to 22 November, when he was assassinated by unknown assailants.
Élias Youssef Sarkis was a lawyer and President of Lebanon, who served from 1976 to 1982.
Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh, last name also spelled Frangié,Franjieh, or Franjiyeh, was a Lebanese Maronite politician, President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976.
Raymond Émile Eddé was a Lebanese Maronite statesman who served his country for many years as a legislator and cabinet minister. He led the Lebanese National Bloc, an influential political party. The son of former President Émile Eddé, Raymond Eddé was himself a candidate for the presidency in 1958, and was proposed for the post on numerous subsequent occasions. He is remembered for having held consistent views, which he refused to compromise for the sake of political gain. His supporters called him "Lebanon's Conscience." He was a strong nationalist, who opposed the French Mandate, and later, Syrian, Israeli, and Palestinian military intervention in Lebanon.
Suleiman Tony Frangieh is the current leader of the Marada Movement and a Member of Parliament for the Maronite seat of Zgharta-Zawyie, in North Lebanon.
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