By Xinhua
Beirut : Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir has urged rival politicians to adhere to the Constitution and elect a new president swiftly, the Daily Star reported Monday.
“Let us all hope that our politicians adhere to the Constitution and take the initiative to elect a president who would run the state before it’s too late,” Sfeir was quoted assaying during his Sunday sermon.
Lawmakers had been set to meet on Saturday to vote for a new head of state, but the session was put off the previous night until Dec. 29.
Sfeir had conveyed his Christmas message Friday, calling for abandoning hatred, feuding and what he described as “cheap exploitation” and “narrow interests,” while also calling for helping the needy.
The country has been without a president since former president Emile Lahoud’s term expired on Nov. 24 without rival camps agreeing on a successor.
The two sides have agreed on Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as the man for the job, but remain at odds over the election process and the shape of a new government. The opposition is demanding a “basket” of guarantees on the new government line-up ahead of any vote.
The ruling coalition has insisted that deciding the make-up of the cabinet is a prerogative of the new president, traditionally drawn from the Maronite Christian community, which has expressed fears for its role in the Muslim-majority country.
Lebanese ruling coalition and the opposition have been separated by a wide chasm since six of the latter’s ministers resigned from Premier Fouad Seniora’s government last November.