Noticias

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Lebanese leaders to exert urgent efforts to put an end to the ongoing presidential vacuum, in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the occasion of Lebanon's Independence Day.

“For the sake of Lebanon's stability and security, now is the time for Lebanese leaders to act in the national interest and elect a president,” said Obama in the letter that was distributed by the U.S. embassy on Tuesday.

A panel established on Wednesday to devise a new parliamentary electoral law will hold weekly meetings in order to resolve a dispute that has resulted in the extension of parliament's term on two occasions.

The committee will hold its first meeting on December 1, revealed the daily An Nahar on Thursday.

Its discussions will continue until mid-March 2016, which marks the beginning of parliament's regular session.

A parliamentary committee was set up Wednesday to devise a new electoral law, as part of the political settlement that had led to holding a legislative session on Thursday and Friday after around a one-year interruption.

“The panel is comprised of 10 members and it can convene with the presence of only six members,” Deputy Speaker Farid Makari announced after a meeting for the parliament bureau.

“Should it agree on a law, it will be submitted to parliament for a vote,” he added.

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged Lebanese factions on Sunday to get rid of the obstacles hampering the election of a president, as he extended condolences over the victims of the Bourj al-Barajneh and Paris bombings that left several dead, the National News Agency said.

“We urge the Christian political forces to seek to remove all the hurdles hampering the election of a president, and to facilitate the process as fast as possible and to agree with the allying political factions on a new electoral law,” said Rahi during the Sunday mass in Bkirki.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh stressed Wednesday that what achieves a “victory” for Christians is the approval of a “fair” electoral law, dismissing the legislative settlement that was reached earlier in the day as a “Don Quixotic triumph.”

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement have reiterated their commitment to addressing the parliamentary electoral law above any other article at the upcoming legislative session, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.

Sources from the LF told the daily that the two sides will adhere to their “rejection to attend any session that does not have the electoral law on its agenda.”

Divisions have emerged at the national dialogue talks over the characteristics of a new president for the country, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.

It said that the March 8 and 14 camps are disputed over a president who supports the resistance, Hizbullah, and one who calls for Lebanon to adhere to its policy of disassociation from regional conflicts.

The March 8 camp, led by Hizbullah, is advocating the former, while the March 14 camp is advocating the latter.