Report: Salam Govt. to Assume Caretaker Role over Int'l Failure to Agree on New President
The presidential elections are unlikely to be held in Lebanon given the situations on the regional and international scenes, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anba daily on Sunday.
Diplomatic sources told the daily that the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam is likely to assume a caretaker role and take over the duties of the president should the elections be postponed.
“Local desire to hold the elections is not sufficient to hold them,” added the sources.
They cited the recent developments in Ukraine, Arab disputes, and the “U.S. escalation against the Syrian regime” as factors that will affect the presidential elections in Lebanon.
Some sides are deluded in believing that Lebanon is independent in electing a president, they continued.
The election of eleven Lebanese presidents over the years, excluding Suleiman Franjieh in 1970, was influenced by foreign powers.
Salam stated on Saturday that his cabinet “does not want to fill a vacuum.”
“I have said since the beginning that this cabinet is here for two months only, and it will focus on priorities such as the security situation, the issue of refugees, and the economic and financial situation in the country,” he reiterated.
“But our main priority remains reaching consensus over a new parliamentary electoral law and electing a new president,” Salam added.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends in May but the Constitution states that the parliament should choose a new head of state within a two-month period before the end of the incumbent's term, which started on March 25.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced on Friday his candidacy for the presidential elections.
No other official has announced his candidacy, but a spokesman for the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki announced last week that the four main Maronite leaders, Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, and Geagea are all presidential candidates.
Aoun had remarked on Wednesday that he will not run in the elections if the Mustaqbal Movement endorses Geagea's candidacy.
M.T.
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