Lawmakers failed to elect a new president on Wednesday, the result of rivalry between the March 8 and 14 camps as no candidate was able to garner the needed two-thirds of votes to become Lebanon's next head of state.

Speaker Nabih Berri chaired the session at noon Wednesday after 124 MPs attended it, securing the required two-thirds quorum.

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to call for a second parliamentary session set to elect a new president in May as observers are decisive that the first round on Wednesday will not lead to the election of a new head of state.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, the speaker will call for another round unless consensus among parliamentary blocs was reached over the name of the new president.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday announced the revival of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc and the nomination of its member MP Henri Helou for the presidency, one day before a parliamentary session aimed at voting for a new president.

“The Democratic Gathering has been revived with all its members and we're one family again,” Jumblat said after a meeting in Clemenceau.

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it will cast blank votes in Wednesday's presidential election.

"We have decided to take part in Wednesday's session and we will cast blank votes," MP Emile Rahme said, reciting a terse statement issued after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh.

Lebanese Forces delegates continued on Tuesday meeting with lawmakers over the presidential elections, as MP Sethrida Geagea announced that the LF chief might gather up to 50 votes in his favor during Wednesday's parliamentary session dedicated for the election of a new head of state.

Tuesday's meetings kicked off with talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in the Beirut neighborhood of Ain al-Tineh, and the latter revealed that his Development and Liberation MPs will attend Wednesday's session at the parliament to vote for a new president.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam hoped that the parliament would elect a new president on Wednesday and stressed that the differences between the rival parties were not on the concept of resistance but on the use of its arms in Lebanon.

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Salam said: “Nothing prevents an agreement on the name of the president if the political parties had the intention and will.”

Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Awdeh said on Sunday that if a new president was elected within the constitutional deadline then Lebanon would be moving on the right track.

In his Easter sermon at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut Awdeh said that “all vacuum posts in the state should be filled” with competent employees.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has not invited ambassadors and diplomats to attend Wednesday's parliamentary session to elect a new president, which is a reflection of his skepticism that a president would be elected on that day, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

He told the daily: “I, more than any other official, insist that the elections be as Lebanese as possible.”

Head of the National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumblat ruled out the possibility of the nomination of MPs Henri Helou or Fouad al-Saad for the presidential elections, saying that he will not declare his candidate at the moment, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

He explained: “I will choose the candidate at the last moment and after consulting my conscience and political partners.”

Speaker Nabih Berri voiced his skepticism that the parliamentary session to elect a president will be held, saying that the conditions to ensure its success are “not ripe yet,” reported As Safir newspaper on Friday.

He remarked: “The conditions may not be ripe at the moment, but that does not mean that they will not be available before next Wednesday.”