Diplomats to Meet over Fears of Possible Presidential Vacuum
The European Union Ambassadors to Lebanon, U.S. Ambassador David Hale and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly will hold a meeting next week in Beirut to discuss the Lebanese presidential elections.
According to al-Liwaa newspaper published on Monday, the meeting will be held to urge Lebanese officials to elect a new head of state within the constitutional deadline.
The ambassadors will call on the officials to avert any possible vacuum at the helm of country's top Christian post, which will have a “dangerous” impact on the Lebanese structure and the country's stability.
A diplomatic source told the daily that Plumbly will release a statement after the meeting.
The source revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to issue a similar statement to warn of the economic woos that will impact the country if the Lebanese shall fail to elect a new president.
The parliament has so far been unable to elect a new head of state over lack of consensus among the March 8 and 14 alliances over the name of the new head of state, raising fears of a presidential vacuum.
A new parliamentary session is scheduled to take place on Thursday. But the lack of agreement between the political arch-foes will likely lead to a similar boycott by the March 8 alliance's lawmakers.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25.
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