Al-Rahi Laments Presidential Deadlock: Politicians Steering us towards Chaos

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi lashed out at politicians Sunday, accusing them of steering the country according to their own interests and whims.

“No one has the right to deprive the country from it's head of state,” al-Rahi said during sermon from at Our Lady of Lebanon basilica in Harissa.

He stressed that “no one is allowed to toss the country and the people in a state of chaos.”

“They are managing the fate of the country according to their own desires and interest.”

He called on politicians to cooperate and prioritize the affairs of citizens who granted them power.

Lebanon has been without a president since May when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have so far thwarted the polls.

Al-Rahi is celebrating a mass in Harissa as part of jubilation set to welcome Our Lady of Fatima.

The sacred statue arrived in Beirut Friday.

The statue will later on Sunday be transferred to Miziara.

Al-Rahi also expressed regret a shoot-out in northwest Idlib province by al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front members, who killed at least 20 members of the country's Druze minority.

The Idlib killings were the deadliest since Syria's civil war started in March 2011 against the minority Druze sect, which has been split between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad — but has largely stayed out of the fighting.

H.K