Kataeb Urges MPs to Elect President without Awaiting Regional Circumstances

The Kataeb Party on Monday called on lawmakers to elect a president as soon as possible, describing the protracted presidential void and the extension of parliament's term last week as an attempt to “maintain political vacuum at all levels.”

“What's dangerous is that everyone is being asked to surrender in the face of obstruction, which is growing in a manner that threatens to abolish democracy completely,” the party said in a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau.

Kataeb vowed to “resist” attempts to “normalize the (presidential) void or cope with the state of vacuum.”

“In order to exit this national dilemma and to restore the presence and role of constitutional institutions, the political bureau calls for resorting to the easiest and most effective way, which is electing a president and ending reliance on regional and international circumstances,” Kataeb added.

“This juncture is exclusively linked to the legislators and solely dependent on holding a parliamentary session after securing the constitutional quorum,” the party noted.

It reiterated that legislating in the absence of a president would be an additional step into political vacuum and tantamount to “tampering with the country and its future.”

Parliament voted last week to extend its term until 2017 following its failure to stage the parliamentary elections over security fears and a disagreement over an electoral law.

The vote was boycotted by the parliamentary blocs of Kataeb and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May. Disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Separately, Kataeb warned of the “demographic pressure resulting from the massive (Syrian) refugee influx, which has surpassed all limits and the ability to cope with it.”

“This problem could extend to security, economy and labor sectors,” Kataeb cautioned, urging the government to “take the necessary measures and communicate directly with the international community in order to share the burdens resulting from the refugee influx.”

Turning to the issue of the $3 billion Saudi grant to the Lebanese army, which was recently put on the track of implementation, Kataeb lauded the Saudi move and hailed the kingdom's “unconditional support and permanent solidarity with Lebanon in all circumstances.”

Y.R.

M.T.