The head of the Maronite Church Bechara al-Rai. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The head of the Maronite Church, Bechara al-Rai, called on President Michel Aoun on Sunday to leave Baabda palace at the end of his mandate on Oct. 31 in a televised interview on local channel al-Jadeed, adding that he will not gather Christian leaders at the patriarchal headquarters in Bkirki ahead of the presidential election.
The prelate hoped that Aoun would not hold on to his post, while many observers fear him doing so if a new government is not formed in the meantime. The president is opposed to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati having presidential prerogatives in case of a vacancy, while government negotiations still seem to stagnate.
"I don't intend to gather the Christian leaders in Bkirki. I prefer to gather the Lebanese," said Rai, while the main figures of the Maronite community still seem to be far from agreement on a single candidate. "Let everyone engage in a dialogue. If they are unable to do so, let them ask for international sponsorship," he said, adding that he had discussed the matter with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who reportedly said he was "ready to do so if there is a Lebanese agreement on the matter."
'Leave with dignity'
The patriarch also hoped that Aoun would make efforts with those concerned so that a new head of state would be elected "before the end of his term." He must "do everything in his power to this end," he insisted, saying that "Presidential vacancy is a crime. I advise president Aoun to leave the Baabda palace with dignity, just as he entered it," he pleaded, noting that his "prerogatives end at the end of his mandate."
Rai also considered that "it is not the church's role to propose names of presidential candidates." He said he was not convinced by the idea of a "strong president" or "the strongest president within his community," saying he wanted "a president who would federate and not have personal interests."
The religious dignitary also said that he is not opposed to the election of the leader of the Marada Sleiman Frangieh, "if he is able to bring together the political forces and if there is an agreement around his name." When asked about a possible election of the Lebanese Army commander Joseph Aoun, he reiterated that "any candidate around whom there is an agreement does not pose a problem."
For months, and well before the beginning of the constitutional deadline to elect a successor to Michel Aoun on Aug. 31, the patriarch has regularly called on political forces to make efforts to elect a new head of state and avoid a presidential vacuum.
On Bkirki's relationship with Hezbollah, Rai said that a committee of representatives from both sides "continues to meet to exchange ideas," adding that "Hezbollah has still not taken a decision on its defense strategy" and that "neutrality serves Hezbollah's interests."
The patriarch regularly calls for the disarmament of the pro-Iranian party, the only one to have kept its weapons after the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990, and has advocated for Lebanon's neutrality in relation to conflicts in the broader Middle Eastern region.
Speaking on the issue of the Syrian refugee crisis, Rai addressed Syrian refugees directly:
"You had a first war imposed on you, your country has been broken and destroyed," he said. "But if you do not return home, you are creating a second war with your own hands. You are destroying your history, your culture and your civilization."
"You cannot stay in Lebanon ... and derail its economy," Rai continued. He called for dialogue with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to organize the return of refugees to their homeland.
