Al-Rahi Heads to Vatican: Outgoing Presidents Should Continue Tasks Until Successor Elected

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi proposed on Thursday that any future outgoing president should continue to carry out his tasks until the political arch-foes agree on his successor in order to avoid vacancy at the country's most important Christian post.

“We have always said that the parliament must convene and elect a new head of state,” al-Rahi said from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport ahead of his departure to the Vatican to discuss with Pope Francis and other senior officials the conditions of Iraqi Christians.

The visit reportedly aims at briefing the pontiff and high-ranking officials on the visit of a delegation from the patriarchs of the Orient to the Iraqi Kurdish region of Erbil and the latest developments regarding the presidential impasse.

Islamic State militants in Iraq have been waging a campaign against minorities in Iraq, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Pope Francis called last week for collective action through the United Nations to "stop unjust aggression" in Iraq.

Al-Rahi lamented the vacancy at the Baabda Palace, expressing hope that lawmakers would elect a new president during the upcoming session on September 2.

“If a president was elected, I believe, a binding article must be added to avert any future vacancy at the helm of the presidency,” he told reporters.

The Patriarch suggested that any outgoing president would carry out his tasks until the rival parties agree on his successor in order to avoid such a crisis.

Lebanon's top Christian post was left vacant in May this year when the rival MPs failed to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman over their differences on a compromise candidate.

Media reports had said that the Vatican considers the presidential elections in Lebanon as a battle of existence that surpasses the Maronites and focuses on the active Christian role in state posts in the country and the Middle East.

Al-Rahi was accompanied by Bkirki spokesperson Walid Ghayad.

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