BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese lawmakers failed to elect a president on Wednesday, for the eighth time, to succeed Michel Suleiman whose term ended in May, prolonging a political vacuum as the country struggles with violence, economic decline and an influx of Syrian refugees.
The civil war in neighbouring Syria has aggravated long-standing rivalries in Lebanon, where political power is divided among religious communities - the presidency goes to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker is a Shi'ite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni.