1998 Lebanese presidential election

An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 13 October 1998,^[1] resulting in General Emile Lahoud being elected President of the Lebanese Republic.

1998 Lebanese presidential election

← 1989 13 October 1998 2008 →

Nominee Émile Lahoud Party Independent Electoral vote 118 Percentage 92%

President before election Elias Hrawi Independent Elected President Émile Lahoud Independent

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 128-seat Lebanese Parliament is required to elect the president. After the second round of election, the president is elected by an absolute majority.^[2]

General-in-chief of the army, Emile Lahoud, was backed by Syria and elected in a landslide 118 out of 118 votes (of the attending MPs) in the Chamber of Deputies.^[3]

118 of 128 deputies attended the session, thus reaching the required quorum of 2/3 of MPs needed to proceed. On the first round, every deputy voted for Emile Lahoud, thus immediately making him the 11th President of the Lebanese Republic.^[4]