BEIRUT — Parliament failed Thursday, May 15, in its fourth attempt to hold the second round of the presidential election, with Speaker Nabih Berri adjourning the session to May 22, only three days before President Michel Sleiman is scheduled to step down.

MPs began arriving at Parliament slightly before the session, but by noon, the scheduled start time, only 71 lawmakers were inside the chamber itself, not enough to secure a quorum.

Like the previous voting session, MPs representing the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance boycotted and thwarted a quorum, insisting that a compromise be reached on a consensus candidate before another vote is held.

The first round of voting on April 23 failed to elect a successor to Sleiman, and the four attempts since then to hold a second round of voting have failed to achieve a quorum.

Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel blamed Berri for the delays, saying the speaker should have called for daily sessions until Parliament elected a new president.

“Berri should have announced a ‘state of emergency’ in Parliament until a new president is elected, including Saturdays and Sundays,” Gemayel said after the speaker adjourned the meeting. “One week is just too long for us.”

Political sources told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star that there had been no breakthrough on the presidential election yet, awaiting the outcome of upcoming Iranian-Saudi talks.

Saudi Arabia has recently extended an invitation to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit the kingdom. Resuming contacts between Iran and Riyadh could have positive effects on resolving tensions in the region including Lebanon’s presidential stalemate.