BEIRUT, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Some Lebanese parliament members on Thursday staged a sit-in protest in the parliament, asking to elect a new president as soon as possible after the parliament failed for the 11th time to elect one.
"The Lebanese people are hungry, and they have become desperate ... Unfortunately, the vacant presidency leads us to more misery and collapse. This is why I won't leave the parliament hall until this goal is achieved," Melhem Khalaf, a parliament member, said in the parliament session.
Other lawmakers took the same decision in solidarity with Khalaf, including Osama Saad, who said he won't leave the parliament until the election of a new president for the country and the regularization of constitutional life.
Lebanese authorities failed over the past three months to elect a new president as the term of former President Michel Aoun ended on Oct. 31, delaying necessary reforms and plunging the country into more uncertainty.
Lebanon needs a new president and an effective government capable of undertaking major structural reforms to unlock aid from the International Monetary Fund which might put the country on the path of recovery. ■
