Report: Al-Rahi Informs Hizbullah that Election of President Comes ahead of Settlement
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said that the patriarchate accepted the recently launched initiative to end the presidential deadlock as a “dynamic and not a candidate, who should be decided by the political leaderships,” reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.
“The election of a president should not be part of a comprehensive settlement, but a head of state should be elected first and discussions can then be held over other affairs,” he told a Hizbullah delegation over the weekend revealed the daily.
Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri had proposed the nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president as part of a greater settlement that would revitalize the political scene in Lebanon.
The proposal was met with reservations from the March 8 and 14 camps.
Al-Rahi had on Thursday urged officials to take Hariri's initiative “seriously,” which drew some criticism.
He clarified on Sunday that a distinction should be made between the initiative and the proposed candidate.
Church sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper Monday that al-Rahi “does not care about the name of a candidate, whether it is Franjieh or any other figure.”
“He is seeking to end the vacuum in the presidency, which is why he demands during each of his sermons for the election of a head of state,” they said.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.
Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.
M.T.
D.A.
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