Salam Says to Deal with Presidential Vacuum in 'Exceptional Way'
Prime Minister Tammam Salam reiterated on Sunday that the country is passing through “extraordinary” circumstances capped with a vacancy at the helm of the country's top Christian post.
He called in comments to MTV channel on the political arch-foes to swiftly elect a new president.
Salam said that his cabinet will deal with this “stage in an exceptional way.”
Lebanon has been plunged into a leadership vacuum after Michel Suleiman's presidential term ended on Sunday with rival political blocs still divided over a new leader.
Over the past two months the parliament convened five times to try to elect a successor to Suleiman but failed during the last four sessions due to a lack of quorum.
The presidential vacuum raised fears that it would affect Lebanon's power-sharing agreement under which the president should be a Maronite, the premier a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.
The cabinet assumes the executive tasks of the president as stated by the constitution until a new head of state is elected.
H.K.
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