Al-Rahi rejects 'vetoes' and 'imposed' president

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday rejected that a president be “imposed” on the Lebanese as well as “vetoes” on presidential candidates.

“The major crime that the nation’s MPs are committing is the failure to elect a president due to vetoes on this or that candidate,” al-Rahi said in a sermon.

“Where does the right to impose a veto or a candidate come from? If you want dialogue, you should impartially discuss the country’s current domestic and external needs and you should vote daily, as stipulated by the constitution,” the patriarch added.

“Let the best and most appropriate president be elected in the current circumstances,” he said.

Separately, al-Rahi welcomed the rapprochement deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, saying their relations had been severed due to “the failure to respect the sovereignty of each of the two countries and the interferences in their domestic affairs, which strained the relations and the domestic and regional ties in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and some Gulf nations.”

“We bless this step… and hope that it happens here in Lebanon, which should restore its natural identity, which is neutrality, and should be distanced from foreign conflicts, disputes and wars,” al-Rahi went on to say.