Daryan Visits Qabalan, Calls for Swift Presidential Polls and Unity
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan warned on Tuesday against the consequences of the vacuum at Baabda Palace and reiterated that terrorism has no religion.
“After the extension of parliament's term, it is time to swiftly hold the presidential elections,” Daryan said following a visit to the deputy head of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan.
“Everyone should know that we can't remain without a president because this nation will be open to all possibilities and consequences if the elections were not held with the appropriate speed,” he said.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since May when President Michel Suleiman's term ended amid the failure of the rival MPs to find a successor.
Last week, 95 lawmakers voted to extend the legislature's term by another two years and seven months, skipping scheduled elections for the second consecutive time.
The vote gave the 128-member parliament eight full years in power— double its allowed mandate — to June 2017.
The parliamentarians, who voted for the extension, claimed they needed to stay in office because Lebanon's security situation is too dire to allow holding elections amid neighboring Syria's civil war. They also said extending parliament's mandate will prevent another power vacuum from forming in the country, which is already divided along sectarian and regional lines.
Clashes tied to Syria's war have broken out with increasing regularity. The latest threat comes from extremists that have engaged in gunbattles with the Lebanese army in areas near the border with Syria and in northern Lebanon.
Daryan warned that “terrorism does not represent any religion. It is the responsibility of Muslims and Christians to fight it because its danger affects not just Shiites, Christians or Sunnis but all of us.”
“We will confront terrorism through unity and we will prove together that we are moderates, and enjoy tolerance and forgiveness,” he said.
“This country can only be built on love and can only become stable and flourish through the respect between its citizens,” the Mufti added.
Qabalan expressed similar remarks, describing Muslims as “brethren.”
“They should work together to consolidate national unity and preserve Lebanon,” he said.
Qabalan also urged Muslims and Christians to be united against strife and to exert efforts to keep Lebanon stable.
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