Lebanese parliament fails for fourth time to elect president

The Lebanese parliament failed Thursday for the fourth consecutive time in electing a new president to replace in-office President Michel Suleiman, whose term ends May 25. The required quorum for the 128-seat parliament session to convene is two-thirds of its members, but on Thursday only 72 members were present, prompting Speaker Nabih Berri to call for a new session on May 22. According to the constitution, the president-elect should be Christian Maronite and elected within two months before the end of the current president's term. The new president should serve a six- year term and is not eligible to be re-elected. The parliament convened for the first vote on April 23 with 124 members present, but no candidate secured enough votes for an outright win. Since then, the parliament met again on April 30 and May 7 but failed to reach the required quorum each time because of boycotts by some lawmakers.