Aoun’s supporters rally on the 26th anniversary of his defeat by the Syrian army

The supporters of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement rallied to push for the election of its leader, former Army Gen. Michel Aoun, as president.

They waved the party’s trademark orange flags at a rally marking the 26th anniversary of when Syrian forces ousted General Aoun from the presidential palace, in the final major military act of the Lebanese Civil War. Sunday’s rally reached the palace in the Beirut suburb of Baabda.

Syrian troops occupied Lebanon until 2005.

The Lebanese parliament failed again on September 28th and for the 45th time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term ended on May 25 , 2014.

As in the past sessions the parliament was unable to reach a quorum because the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and its ally Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc MPs boycotted the session, because they could not reportedly guarantee Aoun’s election as a president.

Amal Movement leader, Speaker Berri a key ally of Hezbollah postponed the election to October 31st.

Aoun and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh are the 2 main candidates for president and both are key members of the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance.