Awdeh Calls for Electing New President Within Constitutional Deadline

Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Awdeh said on Sunday that if a new president was elected within the constitutional deadline then Lebanon would be moving on the right track.

In his Easter sermon at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut Awdeh said that “all vacuum posts in the state should be filled” with competent employees.”

“We have always been advocates to the civil state that treats its people equally and relies on the person's qualifications and expertize in choosing the right individual for each post,” he pointed out.

He noted that the “public post aims at serving the people not the personal, sectarian or political interests.”

On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri called for a parliamentary session to elect a new president on April 23.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25. But the Constitutional deadline for parliament to start convening to elect a new head of state started on March 25.

Under the 1943 power-sharing agreement, the president should be a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.

Only Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, a Maronite Christian, has officially announced his candidacy.