Report: Vatican Officials Pushing for Election of President with Strongest Representation
A delegation from the Vatican has been holding talks with Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Maronite political leaders in an attempt to bring to the helm of Baabda Palace the strongest and most popular Christian politician, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The daily said that the delegation, which has been sent to Lebanon by Pope Francis, is moving back and forth between the papal embassy in Harissa, the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki and the residences of the Maronite political leaders.
The Vatican officials would then hold meetings with the rest of the parliamentary blocs, al-Joumhouria quoted a Vatican source as saying.
The delegation has the objective of holding the presidential elections on time out of fears that vacuum would harm Christians and the post of the head of state that is reserved to Maronites under the 1943 power-sharing agreement.
The representatives of the Vatican also seek to guarantee the election of the Maronite candidate with the strongest representation and the one who enjoys the most popularity among Maronites and Christians in general, the source said.
“If there was no hope to elect a president who had strong representation, then discussions would focus on the election of a centrist,” it said.
The delegation would convince the four Maronite political leaders with such a proposal, which is better than vacuum, the source added.
On Friday, al-Rahi chaired a meeting that brought together Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, and the head of the Marada movement, MP Suleiman Franjieh.
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea did not attend the talks in Bkirki for security reasons but approved a statement issued by the conferees, saying all four of them are candidates.
They urged Speaker Nabih Berri to press ahead with a parliamentary session to elect a new president.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25.
The Vatican source expected the first round of discussions of the delegation to end on April 10.
He told al-Joumhouria that Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, would then visit Beirut.
G.K.
M.T.
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