fails for 8th time to elect new president

Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled the ninth election session for next Thursday.

Mikati met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Thursday, and said: “The UN Human Rights Office and other relevant international organizations must coordinate with the Lebanese government through its competent bodies to solve this dilemma.

“This issue puts more pressure on Lebanon, since the country no longer has the financial, service and political capacity to bear the repercussions.

“The priority at this stage is to return the Syrian refugees successfully to their country after the situation there stabilizes.”