Beirut, November 24 (QNA) - The Lebanese Parliament failed Thursday, for the seventh time in a row, to elect a new president for the country, as none of the candidates succeeded to win a two-thirds majority in the first round of the total votes of the parliament's members, as stipulated in the constitution.
It was not possible to convene a second session of the Parliament, due to the lack of a legal quorum, which is required for the presence of 86 deputies, or two-thirds of the members of the Parliament.
In the details of the vote, Parliament Member Michel Moawad received 42 votes, 50 MPs cast blank votes, Essam Khalifa won 6 votes, while two MPs voted for Ziyad Baroud, and 9 votes were considered invalid.
For his part, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri called for holding a new session to elect a president for Lebanon next Thursday.
The Lebanese Parliament failed last Thursday to elect a president for the country, without any of the candidates being able to win a two-thirds majority in the first session of the total votes of parliament members.
The Lebanese constitution stipulates, in its 73rd article, that "at least a month before the end of the term of the President of the Republic, or two months at most, the House of Representatives convenes at the invitation of its Speaker to elect a new president. If the House is not called for this purpose, it will convene on the tenth day preceding the expiry of the president's tenure.
Lebanon has entered into a presidential vacancy crisis since last October 31, after the tenure of General Michel Aoun ended, without the parliament being able to elect a successor, with the start of the constitutional deadline for election on the first of last September.
(QNA)