FOR 11TH TIME, LEBANON MPS FAIL TO ELECT PRESIDENT

Beirut, 15 Dzulhijjah 1435/9 Oktober 2014 (MINA) – Lebanese MPs on Thursday failed – for the 11th time in a row – to elect a new president to succeed Michel Suleiman, due to a boycott that prevented the assembly from reaching a required two-thirds quorum.

Only 58 out of a total of 128 MPs attended Thursday’s session, whereas two thirds of the total must be in attendance for the vote to be deemed constitutional.

The Lebanese presidency has been vacant since Suleiman’s six-year term expired in May, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has set October 29 for the next voting session.

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The assembly has so far been unable to complete the process of choosing a new president, with deputies representing the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance consistently boycotting the parliamentary vote.

The alliance has refrained from officially backing either of the two candidates to have expressed an interest in assuming highest office, namely Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Henri Helou.

The political deadlock comes as the three-year conflict in next-door Syria continues to fuel sectarian tension inside Lebanon, with Shiite Hezbollah’s ongoing military support for the Syrian regime drawing condemnation from local Sunni groups. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)