Lebanese Islamic figures call for 'internal' solution to the political deadlock

BEIRUT — Sunni, Shia and Druze religious figures on Friday criticized the Lebanese political class and called for an internal solution to the country's ongoing political stalemate amid an unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon. The religious figures' remarks came in separate speeches following Eid al-Fitr prayers to conclude the holy month of Ramadan.

Lebanon has been without a president for almost six months. 

Exceptionally, the highest Sunni authority in Lebanon, Grand Mufti Abdel Latif Derian, did not deliver a speech after the Fitr prayer in the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in Downtown Beirut. He delegated the president of the Supreme Sharia Court, Mohammad Assaf, to do so in his name. 

After the prayer, Assaf said that the election of a new head of state is a "national necessity to open a new era of hope and trust in the Arab future of Lebanon." He added that the Lebanese do not need to "bet on the outside" to elect the president. "We need to count on ourselves and reinforce our trust in one another," Assaf said, adding that "the people pay the price" of the political stalemate. "The political forces need to go beyond their personal interests," he emphasized.  

For his part, Shia cleric Ali Fadlallah urged the political class to "do their duties and elect a president that has the trust of the Lebanese." He asked them not to rely on external forces, saying that the "Lebanese with their political factions are the ones involved in this challenge and they have to pick their leaders."

Fadlallah also called on the political class to "spare the Lebanese, who have the right to have a state that takes care of them." 

Druze spiritual leader Akel Sami Abi al-Muna said Lebanon comprises "a state without a president, a Parliament that is divided, a strained government, and a vacuum in many sensitive positions in a lot of administration, which is a violation of the [national] pact and administration, and a judiciary that is accused of being biased and politically affiliated, and some leaders that are incapable or naive."

"The solution needs to come from the inside of the country, before relying on the outside," he added. 

Tripoli and North Lebanon's mufti Mohamad Imam, for his part, said, after a Fitr prayer attended by a number of MPs, including Ashraf Rifi, that "the citizens of Lebanon are facing debauchery and rudeness from the politicians who do not know any responsibility and are not ready to do the ABCs of their duties."