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Lebanon fails to elect president on 45th try

Xinhua, September 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese parliament failed Wednesday for the 45th consecutive session to elect a new president for lack of the constitutionally required quorum.

According to the constitution, the quorum required is two-thirds of the 128-seat parliament, while only 40 MPs were present at Wednesday's session, which prompted Speaker Nabih Berri to call for a new session scheduled for Oct. 31.

Due to the sharp political division in the country and the repercussions of the Syria crisis, the parties have not been able to reach a consensus on electing a president to fill the vacuum that started after the six-year term of President Michel Suleiman ended on May 25, 2014.

The lawmakers of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) have been boycotting the electoral sessions to push for the election of the FPM's head MP, Michel Aoun, as president.

The March 14 camp, supported by the West and Saudi Arabia, has endorsed the candidacy of the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea for the post.

Geagea, however, withdrew from the race and endorsed Aoun's candidacy, after al-Mustaqbal Movement head, former prime minister Saad Hariri, declared support for the election of al-Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh as president.

Both Aoun and Franjieh are from the March 8 camp backing the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, while Hariri is known along with the March 14 camp for their strong relations with Saudi Arabia and the West.

According to the National Pact, the president should be a Christian Maronite, the speaker a Muslim Shiite and the premier a Muslim Sunni. Endit