Saniora Meets al-Rahi: No Issues Take Precedence over Electing President

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora lamented on Friday the parliamentary blocs' failure to elect a new president given the boycott some powers are practicing over the elections sessions.

He said: “No other issues take precedence over the election of a president.”

He made his remarks after holding talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at Bkirki.

“The presidential vacuum is fatal to Lebanon,” he stated, while rejecting attempts to link the elections to regional developments.

“No legislative or executive authority in Lebanon is capable of functioning properly due to the vacuum,” noted Saniora after meeting al-Rahi at the head of a delegation.

“We should hold the presidential elections as soon as possible,” stressed the former premier to reporters.

Moreover, he noted that the vacuum is having negative repercussions on various fields in Lebanon, revealing that the talks with the patriarch tackled efforts to end the obstruction of elections sessions.

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

The ongoing dispute between the rival March 8 and 14 alliances over a consensual president has prolonged the vacuum.

The Change and Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun, as well as the bloc of Hizbullah, has been boycotting the presidential elections sessions due to the dispute.

The MP has repeatedly said that he would be willing to run for the presidency if there is consensus over his nomination.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, a presidential candidate himself, has repeatedly accused Aoun and his bloc of obstructing the elections.

M.T.

H.K.