Salam Urges Election of New President, Vows to Safeguard Local Situation

Prime Minister Tammam Salam called on officials on Wednesday to facilitate the election of a new president, stressing any attempts to tamper with the country's stability will be thwarted.

“The country is passing through a state of vacuum over the parliament's failure to elect a new head of state,” Salam said during his opening speech for the Arab Economic Forum held at Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel.

He urged the political arch-foes to “prioritize the national interest and abandon narrow and personal interests.”

Lebanon has been plunged into a leadership vacuum after Michel Suleiman's presidential term ended on May 25 with rival political blocs still divided over a new leader.

Over the past two months the parliament convened seven times to try to elect a successor to Suleiman but failed during the last six sessions due to a lack of quorum.

The PM told conferees that his national interest cabinet will not allow any offender to “tamper with the country's security and stability,” vowing to safeguard Lebanon from the turmoil in the region.

“The cabinet despite (the presidential) vacuum is carrying out its tasks,” Salam said.

A row among the rival parties rose in the cabinet over a mechanism regulating the government’s work during the ongoing presidential vacuum.

The cabinet assumes the executive tasks of the president as stated by the constitution until a new head of state is elected.

Salam hailed his cabinet's achievements during the past four months, clarifying that the “security situation in Tripoli and the Bekaa valley was restored as a security plan is being prepared to be implemented (in the capital) Beirut.”

“Cooperation between the rival political parties restored calm in the country,” the premier noted.

A security plan is set to be enforced in Beirut in June, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said recently.

The army and security forces have already implemented a security plan in the northern city of Tripoli and the eastern Bekaa Valley, arresting scores of gunmen and members of gangs involved in car thefts and kidnappings in return for ransom.

The PM also said that his cabinet is “highly interested in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis and the country's natural offshore resources.”

Salam also vowed to increase foreign investments and carry out administrative reforms, praising the banking sector for recording a good growth rate despite the critical situation.

H.K.

G.K.