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Lebanon parliament fails again to elect new president

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese parliament failed Wednesday for the 22nd consecutive time to convene to elect a new president for lack of the constitutionally required quorum.

The country has been without a president for 333 days when the 6-year term of former President Michel Suleiman ended on May 25th.

The constitutionally required quorum stipulates the presence of 86 MPs of the 128-seat parliament, but only 44 MPs were present at the house by noon Wednesday, which led Speaker Nabih Berri to adjourn the session and call for a new one on May 13.

According to the Power Sharing Pact, the president should be Christian Maronite, while the speaker is Muslim Shiite and the premier a Muslim Sunni.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Tammam Salam has been tasked with running the country in the absence of a president.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise presidential candidate have thwarted the polls.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc of Hezbollah and the Change and Reform bloc of Michel Aoun have been boycotting the elections. Endit