Lebanon Still Without a President

Lebanese MPs failed to agree on a president Wednesday, continuing the longest period without a president since the 1990 civil war.

The vote Wednesday was the 20th the parliament has held to elect a president. Only 55 of Lebanon’s 128 MPs were present for the vote.

The vote was boycotted by Hezbollah and the allied Change and Reform bloc. According to the Lebanese news outlet Ya Libnan, Hezbollah is blocking the appointment of a new president at the request of its sponsor Iran, in an attempt to pressure the West to reach a nuclear deal with Iranian leaders.

Lebanon has been without a president for nine months, since the term of former president Michel Suleiman expired. Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s government has assumed the responsibilities of the presidency in the meantime.

The ongoing stalemate in parliament over the Lebanese presidency reflects the rift in Lebanon over the civil war in neighboring Syria. Some Lebanese factions support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while others support those who are attempting to overthrow Assad.

Hezbollah and its allies are strongly pro-Assad. Hezbollah is fighting alongside Assad’s forces in Syria.

Hundreds of Lebanese citizens, most of them Hezbollah members, have died in the Syrian war. The country has also taken in many Syrians fleeing the fighting; currently an estimated one in five people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee.