The head of the Maronite Church Bechara al-Rai during a Sunday homily. (Credit: NNA)
Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai on Sunday called for the political class to "get out of the equation" of electing either a "sovereigntist president or one affiliated to the Moumanaa," the pro-Iranian axis. Rai's remarks come as the various Lebanese political parties continue to be unable to agree on a candidate for the presidency.
Lebanon has been facing a presidential vacuum since the end of Michel Aoun's term, more than four months ago.
The so-called opposition parties (those opposed to Hezbollah and its allies) continue to support the candidacy of Zgharta MP Michel Moawad, an official candidate, while the Shiite parties Amal and Hezbollah seek to elect the leader of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh, much to the displeasure of the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil, Frangieh's rival.
MPs from the FPM, Hezbollah and Amal cast blank ballots during the 11 parliamentary sessions dedicated to electing a president between September and January.
In an interview on Thursday with the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri explicitly stated that his party's candidate is "known: it is Sleiman Frangieh."
Regain confidence
For Rai, "the election of a president is hampered because, unfortunately, of the disagreement regarding his affiliation, either to the Moumanaa or the sovereigntist camp."
During his Sunday homily, he said that "the only solution is to get out of this equation and that the people work to elect a national president free of any link, any affiliation, any category or any axis."
"It is such a president that Lebanon needs to regain the confidence of the people on the local scene and that of the international community," he added, expressing hope that the future head of state "will carry out the reforms required and necessary to unlock international and regional aid."
The international community, through the International Support Group for Lebanon, as well as France, has this week urged Lebanon to speed up the election of a president. Paris even threatened "consequences" for leaders who block this process and that of reforms, without however mentioning concrete sanctions.
'Lack of statesmen'
"We are faced with an irresponsible political class," Rai also said, contending that the current leaders "only work to serve their personal and sectarian interests."
"The lack of statesmen is really painful," he added, before continuing: "When they speak, they express themselves with malice, resentment and a militia mentality, causing harm to others and spreading division and hostility, which sows pitfalls on the way to the election of a president of the republic."
The patriarch's remarks follow a sharp exchange of accusations between Berri and Moawad. After the head of the legislature called the reformist MP an "in vitro experiment," Moawad accused him of being a "militia leader."
During a mass in Beirut, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Elias Audi, also criticized the current political discourse in Lebanon, saying "verbal and behavioral violence is destructive, as much as weapons."
He alleged that those in leadership positions "think only of themselves and their interests."
"How do you want the country to develop and get out of the crisis when the people who govern it are the same ones who got it into trouble? What is the use of their sterile politics in the face of the suicide of a citizen who despaired of a life full of humiliation and oppression?" he asked.
Several recent deaths in various parts of Lebanon have been reported in the media as suicides.
