Jumblat Urges Reviving 'National Aspect' of Presidential Vote instead of 'Limiting it to Christians'
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday called for “thinking of new solutions to overcome the current situation” in the presidential crisis, calling for “reviving the national aspect of this juncture instead of limiting it to the Christian parties.”
“In the face of the procrastination and obstinacy in the stances of the political forces towards the issue of the presidential election, after long months of presidential void, and given the rise in the intensity of the regional conflicts around Lebanon, it has become necessary to think of new solutions to overcome the current situation,” said Jumblat in his weekly editorial in the PSP's al-Anbaa electronic magazine.
“Perhaps the first idea to reach a new stage in this regard should be reviving the national aspect of this juncture instead of limiting it to the Christian parties, because this would detract from the president's role as a unifier of all Lebanese,” Jumblat added.
Lebanon has been without a president since May when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have torpedoed the elections.
Dialogue got underway recently between two key Christian parties – the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces – and the stalled presidential vote is one of the main topics.
“A long time has passed amid the absence of serious agreements over the characteristics of the new president, and this requires the cooperation of the rest of parties on the basis of consultation instead of monopolizing the decision,” Jumblat went on to say.
He warned that the continued vacuum could “gradually lead to usurping some presidential powers by disregarding the previous norms and producing new ones through successive mechanisms that might be approved by the council of ministers.”
“This may give the impression that the country is moving forward normally without the need to elect a new president,” Jumblat cautioned.
He also called on all political parties to “admit that a presidential settlement is inevitable” instead of “awaiting the outcome of foreign agreements that might require a long time.”
“Amid the accumulation of the foreign challenges, we need to immunize internal stability and activate the work of institutions,” Jumblat added.
Y.R.
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