Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri adjourned the second round of the presidential election to May 7 for lack of quorum.
Early Wednesday, lawmakers headed to Nejmeh Square to partake in the parliamentary session tasked to elect a new president amid an expectation for failure.
Speaker Nabih Berri, MPs Abbas Hachem, Antoine Zahra, Boutros Harb, Ali Ousseiran, Samir Jisr, Marwan Fares, Emile Rahme, Nabil Nicolas, Mouiine el Merehbi, Hagop Pakradounian, Hani Qobeissi, Robert Ghanem, Nawwar al-Sahili, Walid Succariyeh, Ahmad Karami, Ali Bazzi, Serge Torsarkissian, Ghazi Youssef, Nicolas Ghosn, Ayoud Hmayed, Walid Jumblatt, Michel Moussa, Abdel Majid Saleh, Henri Helou, Hadi Hobeishe, Yassine Jaber, Khaled Daher and Ahmad Fatfat were among the first to arrive.
Berri had held separate meetings with Harb and Jumblatt, prior to adjourning the session to 12:30 P.M. in an attempt to reach quorum.
A two-thirds quorum (86) of the 128 MPs is required for any electoral session.
Last Wednesday, the Lebanese parliament convened in the first session and failed to elect a new president.
President Michel Sleiman's six-year term ends on May 25. But the Constitutional deadline for parliament to start convening to elect a new president started on March 25.
Several blocs from the opposing March 8 alliance had previously announced that they would boycott today's session, choosing instead to head to Parliament in a show of support of Lebanese media.
MP Rahme of the Change and Reform bloc and Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah said that they came to parliament to voice solidarity with
al-Jadeed TV and al-Akhbar newspaper.
Last Thursday, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon summoned the editor of Al-Akhbar newspaper Ibrahim Al-Amin and that of Al-Jadeed television Karma Mohamed Tahsin al-Khayat, accusing them of contempt and obstructing justice by publishing the names of alleged witnesses.
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