Rai: The people of Lebanon want a president 'who does not betray them'

BEIRUT — Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai said on Sunday that the people of Lebanon want a president who "does not betray them, does not take sides with axes in the region and protects Lebanon’s back and chest."

They want "a president working with a new, effective and unified cabinet, so that normal life will return to state institutions and administrations," Rai continued.

On Thursday, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held a 10th parliamentary session devoted to electing a new president since the election period for Michel Aoun's successor began on Sept. 1. The session was adjourned without reaching a result due to a lack of political agreement, and Berri has not yet scheduled another session.

As in previous weeks, Berri barely waited until the first-round votes were counted before adjourning the session, after several MPs left the chamber.

Addressing MPs in this regard, Rai said that “the people sent you to Parliament to elect a president, not to create a presidential vacuum."

He called for the stopping of "this series of farcical meetings in the Parliament, which at the same time demean the dignity of the presidency of the republic on the one hand, and take advantage of the vacuum for political and sectarian ends on the other hand, in addition to seeking to dismantle the state and its institutions."

“Everything that is happening at the presidential, governmental, parliamentary and military levels in the south and on the borders, and the erosion of the state, head and body, confirms the necessity of renewing our call for active, positive neutrality, and for convening an international conference on Lebanon that addresses issues that restore its privilege and identity,” he said.

Rai has repeatedly called for an international conference to assist Lebanon and stated that “faced with the failure of the Parliament to elect a new president … we see no solution except to hold an international conference dedicated to Lebanon.”

Such a conference should, according to the patriarch, aim at "renewing the presence of an independent Lebanon and its entity, its democratic system and sole control of the state [that governs] over its territory." He added that governance should be based on the constitution as well as international decisions relating to Lebanon.

For his part, Nabil Kaouk, a member of Hezbollah's central council, on Sunday called for "internal consensus" to resolve the crisis of electing the president of the republic, and "not to bet on foreign mediation."

Rai also offered his condolences to the family of “the Irish soldier, who came to Lebanon to protect the peace of the south, and was martyred by a bullet of hatred that assassinated him,” on Wednesday.

The Irish soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon was killed after a convoy of two armored utility vehicles carrying eight personnel came under "small arms fire" en route to Beirut in the town of Aaqibiya, in South Lebanon, according to the Irish Defense Forces. Lebanese, Irish and United Nations' probes are underway to determine the circumstances of this incident.

Kaouk noted that there is a relationship of “cooperation and coordination between Hezbollah and UNIFIL, and this relationship is stable and continuous, because Hezbollah respects Resolution 1701,” denying that Hezbollah had a hand in the killing of the Irish soldier.

Rai called for a transparent Lebanese and international investigation “that reveals the truth and administers justice.”

He concluded by stating that the time has come for the state “to seize every unlawful and illegal weapon and implement Resolution 1701” fully — an apparent criticism of Hezbollah's arsenal.

The UN resolution was intended to resolve the 2006 war with Israel.