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Lebanese parliament fails to elect a new president again

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese parliament on Wednesday failed for the 18th consecutive time to convene to elect a new president, due to the lack of the constitutionally required quorum.

The presidential seat has been vacant since former President Michel Suleiman's term ended on May 25.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the session to Feb. 18 in order to elect a new president.

The 18th session was adjourned over endless disagreements between rival parties concerning the new president.

Michel Aoun, the Free Patriotic Movement leader, is still the candidate of the pro-Syrian March 8 camp in the face of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, the nominee of Western-backed March 14 forces.

Rivalry between the two men has resulted in an absence of the quorum in the last 16 parliamentary electoral sessions, amid a boycott by the MPs of Aoun's Movement and Hezbollah.

Parliament convened in the presence of 124 MPs of 128-parliament members and a first round of elections was completed with Geagea gaining 48 votes, centrist MP Henri Helou 16 votes, former President Amine Gemayel 1 vote and 52 abstentions on April 23, 2014.

Since then, the parliament failed to convene with the constitutional requirement of the presence of two thirds of parliament members.

According to the power sharing pact, the president should be Christian Maronite, the Speaker Shiite Muslim and the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim. Endit