ANKARA, Turkey — The Islamic-rooted government suffered another setback yesterday when Parliament failed again to reach a quorum to elect its presidential candidate in an ongoing rift between the ruling party and the secular establishment.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a close ally of the prime minister, withdrew from the presidential race yesterday — a sign that the government was giving up efforts to push Mr. Gul’s candidacy through Parliament in defiance of strong secularist opposition.

“There is no point in holding a new round of election,” Mr. Gul said after the parliamentary session yesterday. “Parliament is deadlocked. The correct thing now is for the people to elect” the new president.

Prime Minister Erdogan, already looking to elections set for July 22, is amending the constitution to open the way for the president to be elected by popular vote, instead of parliament.

The presidential elections have exposed a deepening divide between pro-secular groups and supporters of Mr. Erdogan’s party. Secularists oppose Mr. Gul’s candidacy, fearing that Mr. Erdogan’s party will expand its control and impose religion on society.

In the May 14 issue of Newsweek magazine, Mr. Gul rejected the idea that his government has a hidden Islamic agenda he would implement if elected.

“We have worked harder than any party in Turkey’s history to make Turkey a member of the E.U.,” Mr. Gul told Newsweek. “Why would we do this if we are trying to Islamize Turkey?”

Parliament yesterday was short of the 367 legislators need to vote because secular lawmakers from the opposition boycotted the session. The attempt was a repeat of a first-round of elections, which the Constitutional Court, siding with the secular opposition, canceled last week on grounds that there was no quorum.

Mr. Gul has said he could stand for president if the vote went to the people, but did not say yesterday if he intended to run in a popular vote. He told the Financial Times on Friday that he believed he had the support of 70% of the public.