Lebanon is still without a president

The Lebanese parliament failed today and for the 22 nd  time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term ended on May 25.

As in the past sessions the parliament was unable to reach a quorum because the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group and its ally MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc MPs boycotted the sessions.

MTV reported that 44 out of 128  lawmakers were present at the session.

According to an observer   unless the constitution is amended this kind of scenario could be repeated in any future election of a president . The observer suggests  that the constitution  should be changed to force MPs to show up at the parliament  to  vote whichever way they want  or, strip any MP  of his or her  credentials if he/she  doesn’t show up to elect a president. If all fails then the parliament should be dissolved .

According to media reports Lebanon will not get a president before Iran gets its nuclear deal  from the west in June  . The reports indicate that Hezbollah is awaiting a green light from its backer Iran before  it sends its MPS to the parliament .

The reports stressed   that Iran is using Hezbollah and Lebanon’s election to put pressure on the west to secure a favorable deal.