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]
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]