MP Frangieh from Rabieh: I reiterate support for Aoun in the presidential race

Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh said on Wednesday that attending the parliamentary sessions tasked to elect a new president without any prior consensus is an "offense to the Intelligence of the Lebanese people."

Frangieh's comments were made following his visit to Change and Reform bloc leader Mp Michel Aoun whereby he reiterated his support to Aoun in the presidential race.

Lebanese parliamentarians failed on Monday in a first effort to elect a president for the country after former President Michel Sleiman's terms expired on May 25, keeping Lebanon in presidential vacuum.

Deep divisions are worsened by sectarian tensions over Syria's conflict between Lebanon's two main political blocs: the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the rival March 14 camp which backs Assad's opponents.
 
Parliament's sixth attempt in total to vote for a new president was abandoned one more time when deputies failed to reach the needed two-thirds quorum on Monday, with mainly lawmakers from March 8 movement boycotting the session.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the session to June 18.


LBCI/REUTERS