Lebanese lawmakers failed for the seventh time to elect a president. The parliament is split between supporters of Hizbullah and its opponents, with neither side having a clear majority, AFP reported.

MP Michel Moawad won the support of 42 of the 128 MPs, but did not get the necessary majority.

"This is not an electoral process, it's a process of waiting for compromise that is to the detriment of the country, the people, the economy and the constitution," said Christian MP and Moawad supporter Samy Gemayel.

The failure to elect a successor to Michel Aoun before his term expired at the end of last month is because Lebanon is mired in an economic crisis that the World Bank called one of the worst in modern history.

The country has had an interim government since May, despite warnings from creditors that radical reforms were needed to clear the way for billions of dollars in emergency loans.

"An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and critical reform ratification, deepening the woes of the Lebanese people," the World Bank warned in a statement on Wednesday."Lebanon's total contraction of 37.3 percent in real GDP since 2018 -- among the worst the world has seen -- has already wiped out 15 years of economic growth and is scarring the country's potential for recovery."

Parliament will meet for its eighth attempt to elect a new president on December 1.