Lebanon's parliament begins a (very) long political battle to elect next president As Lebanon sinks further into acute economic crisis, President Michel Aoun's term of office approaches its end on October 31. Parliament members began the process of electing his successor on September 29. The political tug-of-war over this post, reserved for a member of the Maronite Christian community, is expected to be lengthy. During the last presidential election, Lebanon went without a president for 29 months.