Lebanese parliament fails to elect president again

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

The country has been without a president for 333 days when the six-year term of former President Michel Suleiman ended on May 25 last year, according to a Xinhua report.

The constitutionally-required quorum stipulates the presence of 86 legislators in the 128-seat parliament, but only 44 legislators were present in the house by noon on 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 Lebanese president should be a Christian Maronite, while the speaker is a Shia Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim.

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 candidate have thwarted the election of a president.

The "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc of the Hezbollah and the "Change and Reform" bloc of former army commander Michel Aoun have been boycotting the election process.