Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT —Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai on Sunday defended statements from the international community calling for the swift election of Lebanon's next president as the country approaches its fourth month without a head of state.
The latest of this call for the presidential election came was made earlier this week by ambassadors of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. In a joint statement, these countries threatened that they will reconsider "all ties" with Lebanon if the political vacuum persists.
These five countries were represented at a Feb. 6 meeting in Paris that addressed the Lebanese crisis.
In his Sunday homily, Rai addressed "those responsible, politicians and MPs who obstruct one way or another," saying: "You have changed the wedding of Lebanon and its people, the beauty of its nature, and its rich resources into a big funeral."
"You are rejecting any advice from friendly countries that are keen on Lebanon's stability and the recovery of its power, and every call for electing a new president," Rai continued. You call it an intervention and a violation of your dignity. [These countries] want to protect Lebanon from you, from every inside enemy, and to save the people from your selfishness, arrogance and destructive projects."
After the ambassadors' joint statement, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah appeared to retaliate against their remarks on Thursday, saying that "the whole world cannot impose a president on Lebanon. There must be an internal agreement and the efforts must continue."
Lebanon was left without a president when Michel Aoun's term expired on Oct. 31. Parliament has since held 11 unsuccessful presidential electoral sessions.
Rai has long called for the organization of an international conference, under the aegis of the United Nations, to address the Lebanese crisis.
On Sunday, Rai also accused Lebanon's politicians of "opening the doors for 1.3 million Syrian refugees, which is more than half the Lebanese population."
Following the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Lebanon became host to roughly 1.5 million refugees, the highest number per capita in the world. Some 839,000 Syrian refugees are currently registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The exact number of Syrians in Lebanon is not known, as the Lebanese government requested UNHCR to stop registering new refugees in 2015.
Lebanese authorities have long pushed for Syrian refugees to return to their home country, and have made several repatriation efforts, which they describe as voluntary, but human rights groups have branded as forced returns.
Forces of Change MP Melhem Khalaf also commented on the Paris meeting during a televised interview on Sunday.
"Is it normal that a meeting between five countries about Lebanon takes place without the participation of any Lebanese representative?" he asked, according to the National News Agency (NNA).