Catholic Patriarchs Council: Presidential Candidates Must Abandon Personal Aims for National Ones
The Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops stressed on Saturday the need to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, calling on lawmakers to assume their responsibilities to that end.
It said: “All presidential candidates must abandon their personal interests in favor of national ones.”
The remarks were made at the end of the 48th meeting of the council of catholic patriarchs and bishops in Lebanon.
“Lawmakers should free themselves of foreign pressure and assume their duties,” said the clerics after the week-long meeting that concluded with talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Saturday.
Furthermore, they demanded the approval of a fair parliamentary electoral law “that would ensure just representation and guarantee the rights of all sects in accordance with the principles of coexistence in Lebanon.”
In addition, they called on officials “to rise above their disputes and support the army and all other security agencies in Lebanon.”
“These forces alone are able to meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people,” they declared.
Lebanon has been without a president since May when the term of Michel Suleiman ended.
Disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.
Al-Rahi has repeatedly called on lawmakers to elect a president, highlighting the detrimental effects the vacuum has on the country.
“Lebanon can no longer persist in this state of fragmentation caused by the schemes of powerful politicians,” he had remarked on Sunday.
M.T.
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