Mufti Calls for Backing Hariri's Efforts, Warns against Street Protests

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan called Sunday for backing the efforts of ex-PM Saad Hariri that are aimed at speeding up the election of a new president, while warning against staging any street protests during this period.

“We are being told that escalation is coming... What is the need for this partisan and sectarian incitement and all types of hatred? Where are the elected MPs? Why don't they head to parliament to elect a president? Do you want the situation in Lebanon to become like the situation in some countries in the region?” Daryan warned in a sermon marking the Hijri New Year.

“Lebanon is going through a delicate and critical period that is engulfed by some optimism but the situation cannot continue as it is,” he added.

“The consultations and contacts that ex-PM Saad Hariri is conducting are a source of hope and we hope his visits will lead to solutions to all issues, topped by the election of a president,” the mufti went on to say.

Urging the country's leaders to “back these efforts that are in the interest of the country and its citizens,” Daryan warned that Lebanon “cannot withstand further waiting and delay.”

And commenting on the Free Patriotic Movement's preparations for staging street protests, the mufti warned against “any step that increases the fragmentation of the Lebanese structure.”

The situation “does not bear any security or economic deterioration,” the spiritual leader cautioned.

“Each of Lebanon's politicians wants to solve things their way but they must unify the vision seeing as it is unacceptable anymore to continue jeopardizing the fate of the country,” Daryan went on to say.

He also voiced concern over “the continued obstruction of cabinet meetings and the suspension of national dialogue,” stressing that “the cabinet must convene and national dialogue must be resumed no matter the circumstances.”

The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the 1943 National Pact that stipulates Christian-Muslim partnership.

The movement has also warned that it would resort to street protests and that Lebanon might soon be plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties in the country do not heed its demands.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, FPM founder MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.