A summit of Christian communities in Lebanon today called for an end to the presidential vacancy and for parliament to elect a new president to lead the country.
The Catholic-Orthodox “spiritual summit”, which was held in the Patriarchal Monument in Bkerke, chaired by the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Wednesday evening, called on the House of Representatives to expedite its national duty and elect a president for the republic.
At the same time, representatives of the Lebanese Christian communities criticized the officials for “the spread of tragedies that cannot tolerate any delay in treatment,” stressing that “their mismanagement, negligence, and widespread corruption cannot be accepted.”
The Lebanese Parliament held 11 sessions since the term of outgoing President Michel Aoun ended on October 31, all of which ended without achieving the desired goal.
The presidential vacancy in Lebanon comes in parallel with a severe economic crisis, which led to the collapse of the local currency, and a significant rise in commodity and energy prices, in addition to a political crisis that has prevented caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati from forming his government since last May.
The President of the Lebanese Republic is required to be a Maronite Christian (the largest of the Christian denominations in Lebanon), and to obtain two-thirds of the votes of Parliament (86 out of 128).
The heads of the Christian denominations and their representatives in Lebanon met this evening, Wednesday, in the Patriarch’s edifice in “Bkerki”, at the invitation of the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, to discuss the presidential election crisis and other current issues.
In a joint statement after their meeting in Bkerke, the heads of the Christian denominations called on the parliament to expedite its national duty and elect a president for the republic.
The statement said, “We entrust His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rahi to meet with whoever he deems appropriate to achieve the speedy election of the president, including inviting Christian deputies to meet in Bkerke, and urging them to take the initiative together, with Muslim deputies, as soon as possible, to elect a president for the Lebanese Republic.”
The statement added, “For about 3 months, the presidential seat has been vacant, due to the parliament’s failure to elect a president.
The statement stressed that electing a president for the republic is the demand of all the Lebanese, and means commitment to the regular work of the constitutional institutions, and said, “No one has the right to risk the fate of the country.
Representatives of the Christian communities pointed out that the basis of the Lebanese entity, and the source of its unique strength, is the Christian-Muslim national partnership, stressing their confidence in the solidarity of the heads of the Islamic communities with them.
They expressed their deep concern about the social and economic crisis, which is getting worse day by day, and their solidarity with the Lebanese people in what they suffer from depriving them of their basic life needs of food, water, electricity, medicine and the necessary needs of children, on the one hand, and the collapse of the national currency and the decline in family incomes, on the one hand. other.
The same statement criticized the high unemployment rate and low living standards, in addition to the many life difficulties that burden the Lebanese people daily. This dangerous situation cannot continue to be tolerated, and called on state officials to find solutions to these tragedies that cannot bear any delay.