Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai with MP Michel Moawad in Bkirki. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Zgharta MP and presidential candidate Michel Moawad said Wednesday he aims to be the “president of all the Lebanese,” as well as launch Lebanon’s recovery, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Moawad’s comments came as he met with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai in Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite patriarchate. Currently a presidential frontrunner, Moawad also said he would “restore the sovereignty of the state and put Lebanon back on the path of actual recovery.”
Moawad has so far been the only one to garner the votes of several parties in the parliamentary sessions held so far to elect a president. He obtained 43 votes in the most recent session last week, mainly from parties that oppose Hezbollah.
He added on Wednesday that reform amid Lebanon’s economic and political crises would begin with electing a president, and stated that a president should be “elected and not agreed upon.”
“There is a constitution and institutions, and what is required of Parliament is to assume its responsibility,” he said, adding that MPs should “elect whoever they want, whether it is Michel Moawad or someone else.” The comments were critical of the fact that some MPs leave Parliament after each first round of voting, which forces the end of the sessions after the loss of quorum.
Since Nov. 1, Lebanon has been in a total political vacuum of the executive branch, without a president and with the cabinet serving in a caretaker capacity. Following six parliamentary sessions devoted to choosing the next president, MPs have not yet succeeded in electing a successor to the former head of state Michel Aoun.
Moawad also stated Wednesday that Lebanon cannot tolerate a president chosen via consensus because this kind of president would “embody a government of national unity,” in which parties could agree to “block the institutions.” Such a president is “weak and has no effective capacities,” according to him.
On Sunday, Rai insisted that the upcoming president should not be “imposed.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah has repeatedly said that the upcoming president should not “conspire against the resistance” and should be a consensus figure.
Moawad concluded his comments Wednesday by stating that he decided to run for presidency to represent “all the Lebanese, not under the influence of weapons, but under the roof of unifying the state that protects us and guarantees our stability.”