Lebanon fails anew to elect president over lack of quorum

The Lebanese parliament failed Wednesday for the 33rd consecutive time to convene and elect a new president due to a lack of the constitutionally required quorum.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the polls until Jan. 7.

Since May 25, 2014, when the term of President Michel Suleiman ended, the sharp political division in the country thwarted the election of a successor.

The western backed March 14 camp backs the election of leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF) Samir Geagea and the March 8 camp, led by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group supports Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun.

The centrist Democratic Gathering bloc led by MP Walid Jumblatt announced the candidacy of its member MP Henri Helou to the post.

However, the al-Mustaqbal Movement leader former prime minister Saad Hariri had in recent weeks pushing for the nomination of Marada Movement MP Suleiman Franjieh as president.

According to the power sharing pact, the president should be a Christian Maronite, the speaker a Muslim Shiite and the premier a Muslim Sunni.

According to the constitution, the required quorum for the presidential election is two thirds of the 128-seat parliament, and the president should be elected by two thirds in the first voting round and by a simple majority in the following rounds. Endit