An indirect presidential election was held in the

Parliament of Lebanon The Lebanese Parliament ( ar, مجلس النواب, translit=Majlis an-Nuwwab; french: Chambre des députés) is the national parliament of the Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constit ...

on 13 October 1998, resulting in General Emile Lahoud being elected President of the Lebanese Republic. By convention, the presidency is always attributed to a

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians ( ar, المسيحية المارونية في لبنان; syc, ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ) are adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country ...

. Under the article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution, a

qualified majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

of two-thirds of the members of the 128-seat

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament ( ar, مجلس النواب, translit=Majlis an-Nuwwab; french: Chambre des députés) is the national parliament of the Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constit ...

is required to elect the president. After the second round of election, the president is elected by an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

. 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. 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.

References

{{Lebanese presidential elections

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1998 elections in Asia 1998 in Lebanon