Presidential Elections Postponed to August 12 over Lack of Quorum

The presidential elections were postponed on Wednesday for the 26th time following a lack of quorum at parliament.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the polls to August 12.

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora later condemned the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, saying: “The election of a head of state is key to ending the Lebanese people's problems and waiting for developments here and there is not helpful.”

“We failed as Lebanese to elect a president due to the policies of obstruction adopted by some sides,” he added from parliament.

“The election of a president will bring the Lebanese together and not act as a divider between them,” he went on to say.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise presidential candidate have thwarted the polls.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc of Hizbullah and the Change and Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun have been boycotting the elections.

M.T.

G.K.