Iraq MPs fail for third time to elect new president

Iraqi legislators have failed for a third time to elect a new president for lack of a quorum, officials said, deepening the war-scarred country’s political crisis.

The continued failure by parliament to select a president after last year’s elections reflects a deep schism between Shia political groupings.

A parliamentary source told AFP that only 178 out of 329 lawmakers were present in parliament Wednesday, far short of the two-thirds quorum required for the vote.