Noticias

Iran said Friday that next week's presidential election in Syria, branded a farce by Western governments, will boost the legitimacy of its ally Bashar al-Assad.

"God willing, the elections in Syria will be carried out without a hitch," said Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior foreign policy adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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.

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.