Al-Mustaqbal Says Parliament's 'Only' Task is Electing New President

Al-Mustaqbal bloc on Monday rejected “accepting” the presidential vacuum, considering that the parliament's only task is to elect a new head of state.

"We cannot surrender and accept vacuum in the presidency and act as if everything is normal,” the bloc said in a released statement after the MPs' weekly meeting.

"And what is needed is acting on the basis that what has happened is a dangerous matter that cannot be overlooked, accepted or that it can continue (in the same manner),” it added.

The statement continued: “Lawmakers are urged to hold onto their constitutional and national duty of electing a new head of state before anything else, and today before tomorrow.”

The lawmakers assured that the March 14 alliance “insists that the parliament's only and primary task amid the current circumstances remains electing a new president, along with following up on and taking care of people's affairs.”

Meanwhile, they accused their political foes in the March 8 alliance of preventing quorum from meeting and hence, preventing a parliamentary electoral session.

"This is a setback in the work of constitutional institutions and a major relapse in the Lebanese people's political experience, to which they were looking forward to kick start a new phase.”

The bloc also hailed former President Michel Suleiman's experience as a “genuine example of a presidential role that is based on the constitution, in what concerns rising above parties and sensitivities, and siding with the Lebanese people's higher interests.”

Suleiman left the Baabda Palace on Saturday, without a successor to take office in the next six years as the rival political camps have repeatedly failed to elect a new head of state.

While the March 14 forces have held onto their candidate Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, their March 8 rivals have boycotted parliamentary sessions dedicated for electing a new head of state.

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Y.R.