For 17th time, Lebanese parliament fails to elect a president

The Lebanese parliament yesterday failed for the 17th time to elect a new president due to the lack of the constitutionally required quorum for convening the parliament’s session.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri set 28 January as the date for a new election session.

Berri postponed yesterday’s session, which was dedicated, like the previous one, to electing a successor to the current President Michel Suleiman, whose term expired on 25 May, 2014. Only six of the 86 members of parliament arrived in time for the vote, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Two-thirds of the 128 member parliament, 86 members of parliament, must attend the session to form quorum for the presidential election’s session in Lebanon in the first round. In the event that a candidate has not won two-thirds of the vote, a new ballot takes place wherein a candidate needs at least 65 votes to win.