Hariri Praises Suleiman, Says Miracle Needed to Stop Inevitable Vacuum

Head of al-Mustaqbal Movement Saad Hariri hailed on Saturday President Michel Suleiman, saying that the country “needs a political miracle to ensure electing a new head of state” ahead of the end of the outgoing president's six-year term.

“Few hours separate us from the constitutional deadline to elect a new president, which requires a political miracle to end the deadlock,” Hariri said in a statement issued by his press office.

He warned of the “dangerous threat if the top Christian post was left vacant.”

“There is no constitutional default causing this (presidential deadlock), or that prevents the rotation of power... The flaw lies in the failure to abide by the constitution and reaching consensus,” the statement stressed.

He urged the political arch-foes to end the stalemate, considering it “a serious threat against the democratic system that makes the presidency vulnerable and takes it to the unknown.”

The parliament failed anew on Thursday to elect a president in a fifth session of its kind, raising fears that the vacuum in the country's top Christian post would affect Lebanon's power-sharing agreement under which the president should be a Maronite, the premier a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.

Hariri praised Suleiman, pointing out that he ruled the country “wisely” by insisting on adopting dialogue as “an essential way to resolve the political and sectarian tension.”

“Suleiman leaves office ending his term with an important political asset to what the presidency should be in the upcoming stage, mainly regarding the sovereignty of the state and the Baabda declaration,” the Sunni leader said.

H.K.

D.A.