Lebanese Parliament Fails Again to Select President

Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday failed for a 12th time to elect a new president, extending a power vacuum in a country that has been struggling with an economic crisis for nearly three years.


A first round of voting saw Jihad Azour, a former finance minister and senior International Monetary Fund official, lead with 59 votes but fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to win in the opening round in the 128-member body.


In second place was Suleiman Frangieh, the candidate backed by the militant group Hezbollah and its allies, who earned 51 votes.


A second round requires only the support of 65 lawmakers to win, but the process came to a halt Wednesday with Hezbollah and its allies withdrawing from the session, leaving parliament without the necessary quorum to hold the vote.


Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October.


Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.