Lebanon parliament fails to elect new President over lack of quorum

Beirut, Oct 14 The Lebanese parliament has failed for the second time in a month to elect a new head of state as President Michel Aoun's term is about to end in about two weeks.

House Speaker Nabih Berri announced the postponement of the election session to October 20 after the parliament failed to secure a quorum for the election, according to a state news media.

Only 71 out of 128 members of parliament (MPs) attended Thursday's session, while 86 MPs, or about two-thirds of the parliament, are needed to meet the quorum, Xinhua news agency reported.

On September 29, the parliament failed to elect a successor to President Aoun in a session attended by 122 lawmakers, as no candidate could obtain two-thirds of the MPs' votes.

Lebanon suffers from a steep financial crisis, and the country is in dire need of a new President capable of forcing the implementation of structural reforms to pave the way for a deal with the International Monetary Fund.