Candidate Jihad Azour quickly garnered more votes within the parliament than candidate Sleiman Frangieh.
Through a simple calculation, Azour secures approximately 68 votes compared to Frangieh's 45, with 15 deputies who have yet to decide or may choose to submit a blank ballot.
How?
Jihad Azour has the support of:
Strong Republic Bloc (The Lebanese Forces) with 19 deputies.
If we include the entire Strong Lebanon Bloc (The Free Patriotic Movement), it accounts for 17 deputies.
The Kataeb Party with four deputies.
The Tajadod Bloc with four deputies.
The Democratic Gathering with eight deputies.
The Tashnag Party with two deputies, excluding George Bouchikian.
In addition to eight Change deputies: Marc Daou, Michel El Doeihii, Wadah Saddeq, Najat Aoun, Melhem Khalaf, Paula Yaacoubian, Yassin Yassin, and Elias Jaradah.
Independent deputies include Ghassan Skaf, Jean Talouzian, Bilal al-Hosheimi, Ihab Matar, Nabil Bader, and Imad El-Hout.
On the other hand, Frangieh has the support of:
The Shiite deputies, totaling 27.
In addition to the deputies of the Shiite duo: Yanal Soleh, Hashem Qassem, Melhem Al-Houjairi, and Michel Moussa.
The Independent National Bloc with four deputies: Tony Frangieh, William Tauk, Michel El-Murr, and Farid Khazen.
The National Accord Bloc: Faisal Karami, Adnan Traboulsi, Hassan Murad, Mohammed Yahya, and Taha Naji.
- Jihad Samad and Abdel Karim Kabbara.
- George Bouchikian.
- Ahmed Rostum and Haider Nasser
If we talk about Maronite and Christian support, MP Jihad Azour has 80% support from Christian deputies, compared to only 9% for Sleiman Frangieh.
He also has 87.5% support from the Druze community, while Frangieh has no Druze support.
Among the Sunnite deputies, the support is divided, with 37% siding with Frangieh and 33.35% supporting Jihad.
However, the Shiite community fully supports Frangieh, with 100% of its deputies, including the Shiite duo, endorsing him, which raises the problem of confessionalism.
As for the undecided deputies, they are Ahmed Al-Khair, Walid Al-Baarini, Mohammed Sleiman, Sajih Attieh, and Abdel Aziz Samad from the Moderation Bloc, in addition to the Sidon-Jezzine Bloc and its three deputies, Jamil Aboud, Neemat Ephrem, and Michel Daher, as well as four Change deputies, namely Ibrahim Mneimneh, Firas Hamdan, Halima Kaakour, and Cynthia Zarazir.
These numbers indicate the intensification and uncertainty of the battle.
On paper and in terms of votes, Jihad has surpassed the absolute majority that could lead him to the Baabda Presidential Palace in the second round of any session.
However, the convening of the session is dependent on Speaker Berri's call for it. Even if Berri extends the invitation, the 45 supporters of Frangieh can obstruct the quorum of the session in its first or second round.