Maronite Bishops Sound the Alarm: Pre-conditions Hamper Presidential Election Indefinitely

Maronite Bishops warned Wednesday that pre-conditions could hamper presidential elections indefinitely, noting that such conditions are not related to the president”s powers and should be dealt with after a new head of state is sworn in.

The bishops, in a statement issued after their monthly meeting under patriarch Nasrallah Sfair, noted that “objections set by this side or that linking the presidential election to preconditions … could hamper the election indefinitely.”

 

The statement noted that such pre-conditions are not linked to the president”s powers as set by the constitution.

“National obsessions,” the bishops stressed, “should be tackled after the election of a new president for the republic and the return of normal function to constitutional institutions.”

 

The statement noted that failure to elect a president reflects a “major error (in the function of the system), an exit from which should be found to re-assure the Lebanese (people).”

 

It urged the Lebanese to “set their differences aside” and dismantle whatever links they have with external powers that “harm their homeland and contradict with norm of relations between states.”