August_1982_Lebanese_presidential_election
August 1982 Lebanese presidential election
Indirect presidential election resulting in the leader of the Lebanese Forces becoming president
An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 23 August 1982, resulting in Lebanese Forces leader Bachir Gemayel being elected President of the Lebanese Republic.[1]
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.[2]
In the midst of the raging Lebanese Civil War, Syrian presence in the Bekaa and North Lebanon, and Israeli security belt in South Lebanon, outgoing president Elias Sarkis had failed to bring about reconciliation between warring factions. Under heavy American and Israeli support, Gemayel was able to garner the backing of Saudi Arabia (and by extension the Arab League) for his election to the presidency. With a boycott of pro-Syrian MPs, Gemayel was elected 7th President of Lebanon following independence from France in 1943.[3]