...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...'s next president was adjourned Thursday to next week due to lack of quorum.
Only 71 out of 128 politicians attended the session and Parliament Speaker Nabih
KnobbyBerri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
called for another vote on October 20, to take place before Aoun's term finishes at the end of the month.
The session was boycotted by the FPM-led Strong Lebanon bloc as it coincided with the anniversary of Aoun's ouster at the end of the civil war in 1990 when the Syrian Army stormed the Baabda Palace, killing hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and civilians.
Hezbollah MPs, who still haven't agreed on a name for the next president, came to Parliament but did not attend the session in solidarity with the FPM.
MP Hassan Fadlallah called for further consultations in order to reach a consensual name. He criticized Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
leader Samir Geagea
...Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005...
for proposing a "confrontational" candidate.
"We call for consensus instead of confrontation," Fadlallah said, adding that naming a candidate who cannot become a president is a waste of time. "It will not lead to any results."
A first voting round last month saw politician Michel Mouawad emerge as a frontrunner in the presidential race, but he fell far below the number of votes needed.
Fadlallah dismissed Mouawad's bid. "A challenge candidate will lead to more delays," he said.
Mouawad, who had garnered 36 votes from the opposition MPs in the first presidential election session, accused some parties of attempting to obstruct the election of a new president.