1964 Lebanese presidential election

1964 Lebanese presidential election

← 1958 August 18, 1964 1970 →

Nominee Charles Helou Pierre Gemayel Party Independent Kataeb Electoral vote 92 5 Percentage 94.85% 5.15%

President before election Fouad Chehab Independent Elected President Charles Helou Independent

An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on August 18, 1964, resulting in Charles Helou 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]

Results

All 99 MPs of parliament were present.^[3] The first round of voting saw Charles Helou winning 92 votes, 5 votes for Pierre Gemayel along with 2 blank ballots.^[3]

Aftermath

The impressive economic growth that characterized Helou's presidency translated into a cultural and lifestyle belle époque in Lebanon (perhaps this gained the name for Beirut as the 'Paris of the Orient' and Lebanon as the 'Switzerland of the East'). However this period was also partly marred by the Intra Bank crisis of 1966 and Lebanon's increasing inability to avoid involvement in the Arab–Israeli conflict. The Six-Day War of 1967, strained sectarian relations in Lebanon. Many Muslims wanted Lebanon to join the Arab war effort, while many Christians wished to eschew participation.^[4] Helou managed to keep Lebanon from entanglement, apart from a brief air strike, but found it impossible to put the lid on the tensions that had been raised. Parliamentary elections in 1968 revealed an increasing polarization in the country, with two major coalitions, one pro-Arab Nationalism, led by Rashid Karami and the other pro-Western, led jointly by former President Camille Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel and Raymond Eddé, both made major gains and won 30 of the 99 seats each.^[5]

References