The Kataeb Party warned Monday that continued failure to elect a new president would allow foreign countries to interfere once again in the key constitutional juncture.
“The party warns that failure to facilitate the election of a president through inter-Lebanese consultations, especially around the (national) dialogue table, will open the door once again to foreign powers to have the final say,” said the party in a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau.
It called on all parties to “renounce their selfishness and foreign commitments and allow the election of a president who is not part of the current political alignments.”
It said the new president should be capable of “uniting the Lebanese, preserving Lebanon's independence and sovereignty, and improving its institutions.”
Turning to the issue of the paralyzed government, Kataeb said the parties “that are impeding cabinet sessions are to blame for the state's failure to address people's concerns, especially that the economic situation is on the verge of collapse.”
Commenting on Prime Minister Tammam Salam's visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, the party said it supports the premier's efforts that are aimed at “pushing the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards Lebanon,” noting that the country “is reeling from the refugee crisis' economic and social burden.”
Speaker Nabih Berri has called for dialogue among the main political parties to discuss a stalemate that has frozen government institutions for months.
Parliament has extended its own mandate twice since the last elections in 2009. Political rivalries have also paralyzed the cabinet, formed in early 2014 on a caretaker basis, and the parliament has been so divided that it has failed more than 20 times to elect a president since Michel Suleiman's term expired in May 2014.
Berri has said his call for dialogue is an attempt to jump-start the work of these institutions.
