Vatican Blames the Lebanese for Failure to Elect President

The Vatican held the Lebanese of “different religions and political affiliations” responsible for the delay in electing a new head of state, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri who arrived in Beirut on Friday, held a meeting with Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

He stressed support to the efforts of the Patriarch with regard to the file of the presidency.

However, the Cardinal stressed the insistence of the Holy See to elect the “only Christian president in the Levant soon,” as he held “all the Lebanese of different religions and political affiliations responsible for the delay.”

During the meeting between Sandri and Rahi, the latter briefed the Cardinal on the latest developments with regard to the presidential file, including the efforts exerted by al-Mustaqbal Movement ex-PM Saad Hariri in that regard.

Sandri arrived in Beirut to participate in the ordination of Father Cesar Essayan as bishop.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, 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's recent return to Lebanon has triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility that the former premier has finally decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in a bid to break the deadlock.

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.