BEIRUT: With just one week remaining in Lebanese President Michel Aoun's term, lawmakers are no closer to consensus on his successor, amid fears of protracted horse-trading amongst the entrenched elite.
Here is a list of candidates who have either announced they were running for president or emerged as potential frontrunners.
Sleiman Frangieh
Sleiman Frangieh, 57, is a former lawmaker and minister close to the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group and a personal friend of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
He heads the Christian Marada movement and, like many of Lebanon's prominent political figures, hails from a storied dynasty.
His grandfather and namesake was president when Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war broke out.
In 1978, his father, politician Tony Frangieh, along with his mother and sister, were murdered by rival Christian fighters while he was elsewhere in the country.
He has not officially announced his candidacy, but he told local press he was interested in the position.
His name had been touted for the presidency many times before but he never secured enough support to win.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP the group backed his candidacy, although their Christian ally the Free Patriotic Movement would not endorse him.
Michel Moawad
Michel Moawad, 50, has close ties to Washington and hails from Zgharta, Frangieh's hometown.
His father Rene Moawad was killed 17 days after being elected president in 1989 and his mother Nayla Moawad is a former minister and lawmaker.
He snatched the support of lawmakers opposed to Hezbollah, gathering 39 votes out of 128 when parliament convened for the fourth time on Monday to try to elect a new president.
He has repeatedly demanded that Hezbollah disarm.
But without the support of the Shiite group and its allies, Moawad's chances of becoming president are slim.
Gebran Bassil
Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil, 52, has been vying for the presidency for years.
He heads Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement and is widely seen as his political heir, with many referring to him as Lebanon’s “shadow president”.
In 2019, insults against Bassil became a catchcry of mass antigovernment protests as he came to represent, for many Lebanese, the epitome of the elite's corruption and nepotism.
His chances of securing the seat have moreover dwindled since he was sanctioned by the US in 2020 for corruption.
He has insisted in speeches and interviews that unnamed rivals have “prevented” him from carrying out reforms.
Although he heads one of the biggest Christian parliamentary blocs and is a close ally of Hezbollah, the group has not announced it would endorse him.
The lawmaker headed key ministries, including energy and foreign affairs, in successive governments between 2008 and 2020.
Joseph Aoun
Army chief Joseph Aoun, 58, is on good terms with all sides of the political spectrum, although Hezbollah has criticised him for his close ties to Washington.
Naming him would require a constitutional amendment because of his position.
The commander, who bears no relation to the incumbent, is widely seen as a compromise candidate that lawmakers could elect if they fail to reach a consensus on their preferred choice.
Should he become president, Aoun would be the fourth former army commander to lead the country since the end of the civil war.
Others
Others have emerged as potential candidates, but their chances of winning are slim to none.
These include former diplomat Tracy Chamoun -- granddaughter of late president Camille Chamoun -- who announced she was running for office.
Her father Dany Chamoun was assassinated in 1990, a murder blamed on rival Christian leader Samir Geagea.
Former foreign minister Nassif Hitti, business tycoon Selim Edde and university professor Issam Khalifeh have also been floated as potential candidates in the local press or in parliament. - AFP
