Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai will travel to the Vatican on Monday morning and then on to Paris in the evening, where he will meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. During his visit, he will discuss the Lebanese presidential election and the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday.
Former President Michel Aoun's term in office ended on Oct. 31, but Parliament has yet to succeed in electing a successor. Lebanon is currently enduring a dual executive power vacuum, as it is without a president and its cabinet is serving in a caretaker capacity after having resigned following parliamentary elections over a year ago. Meanwhile, the issue of Syrian refugees on Lebanese soil has again returned to the forefront of public debate and is generating a great deal of controversy, particularly around the aid refugees in the country receive.
On Monday, the head of the Maronite Church will hold talks with Pietro Parolin, cardinal and secretary of state of the Holy See. He will then travel to Paris in the evening, where he will meet Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Rai will head a delegation including several prelates and Lebanon's ambassador to France, Rami Adwan. "He will discuss the presidential dossier and ask for France's help on the issue of displaced Syrians, their return to their country, and the refusal of their naturalization," the NNA report added. Rai will also reportedly address the economic collapse that has ravaged Lebanon since 2019.
In his Sunday homily, the patriarch deplored the fact that "Lebanon suffers from immorality and corruption." However, he welcomed "a [supposed] agreement between parliamentary groups around the next president, which would not represent a challenge for anyone, would respond to Lebanon's current needs and would inspire confidence both internally and externally."
Rai once again expressed hope that a new president would be elected "as soon as possible, in order to reorganize the institutions and get back to work in a normal way."
On Saturday, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea claimed that his rival and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil had decided to back former Finance Minister and current International Monetary Fund official Jihad Azour in the presidential election, according to reports reaching him from opposition circles. FPM sources quoted by the party's media outlet Tayyar.org denied these claims and described them as "erroneous facts."
The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary group, Mohammad Raad, for his part, asserted Sunday that "the candidate whose name is circulating is part of an operation aimed at confronting the one we support and bringing him down." Raad, however, did not mention the candidate in question by name.
In remarks reported in a Hezbollah press release, Raad urged the other camp "to stop wasting time" in negotiations linked to the presidential election. "We want national understanding and real cooperation that protects the country, not more candidates," he said.
"Those who don't want a representative of the moumanaa (Hezbollah and its allies) are those who say to us: 'We have our republic, you have yours' and who want to divide the country," he continued. "We are proud to defend a national, resilient option that protects the country. And we won't change," he added.
Hezbollah and Amal support the candidacy of Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh.