Lebanese President Michel Aoun warned Thursday that he would force Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government to resign if a president is not elected by the time his term ends on Monday.
"The current government is not trustworthy and cannot rule and I am about to sign a decree accepting its resignation. Mikati has no will to form a government, and there must be unity in the formation criteria, and I will give a chance until the end of my term.
On Monday, the Lebanese parliament failed to elect a president in its fourth attempt at voting.
Michel Moawad, an independent Lebanese politician opposed to Hezbollah, received 39 votes, 50 MPs voted with a blank slip, 10 MPS voted for Issam Khalifa (a professor specializing on Lebanon's maritime borders) and 13 MPs submitted ballots reading "New Lebanon." In the last attempted vote, 55 MPs cast blank ballots, while Moawad received 42 votes.