Noticias

The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISGL) called on Lebanon’s leaders to work intensively to ensure the election of a new president without delay, while highlighting the need for the current government to remain functional.

In a statement issued Monday on behalf of the ISGL following deliberations, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly said that the gathering regretted the failure of the Lebanese Parliament to elect a president within the timeframe set by the constitution.

The Cabinet must be allowed to handle the country’s affairs in the case of a presidential vacuum, MP Michel Musa, of Speaker Nabih Berri's Development and Liberation bloc, said.

“The Cabinet would handle the country’s affairs in the coming stage, and no one should obstruct the work of the government especially as we have important and urgent files to address,” Musa told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

The Amal MP said the country was likely to fall into a vacuum but added that efforts should focus on electing a new president as soon as possible.

Lack of a breakthrough in Lebanon’s presidential election was a foregone conclusion ahead of a parliamentary vote scheduled for Thursday with a majority of March 8 lawmakers pledging to boycott the session again.

The lack of quorum will bring Lebanon ever closer to presidential vacuum as President Michel Sleiman’s term ends Sunday.

Parliament will meet Wednesday to discuss President Michel Sleiman’s appeal to lawmakers to elect a new president amid growing fears that MPs will again fail to choose a successor in time and avert the presidential vacuum hanging over Lebanon.

Sleiman, whose six-year mandate expires on May 25, last week sent a letter to Parliament urging lawmakers to elect a new president to avoid the risks that would ensue if a successor is not elected this week.

The letter stresses the importance of holding the presidential election on schedule.

A gathering of Maronite organizations Wednesday warned lawmakers against disrupting the vote and failing to elect a new president on time, saying such moves only jeopardized the top Christian seat.

The remarks came after a number of Maronite organizations held a meeting in Bkirki chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, who briefed the attendees on developments and his discussions with political leaders about the coming presidential election.

Lawmakers from Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform parliamentary bloc will not attend Thursday’s Parliament session to elect a president in the absence of an agreement over a conscenus candidate.

“If circumstances remain the same by Thursday, then MPs from our bloc will not show up [at the election session],” said former Minister Salim Jreissati after attending the weekly meeting of Aoun’s bloc at the latters Rabieh residence, north of Beirut.

Speaker of the People's Assembly Mohammad Jihad al-Laham called upon the Syrian people from all political and social stripes to take part in the presidential vote scheduled for June 3.

"Syria is in need of every vote of every honest Syrian in the ballot boxes as well as on the field, at factories, schools, universities and in all domains of life," said Laham during a parliament's session on Sunday.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri Friday said the presidential election in Lebanon was the responsibility of the country’s Christians and reiterated that Riyadh backed Lebanese accord.

“This election is the responsibility of the Christians in the first degree, and their large responsibility towards their country,” Asiri said, speaking to reporters following talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned against a “presidential vacuum” in Lebanon after lawmakers on Wednesday failed for the third time to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman, whose term in office ends on May 25.