BEIRUT: Former prime minister Saad Al Hariri yesterday called on lawmakers to elect a president after nearly two months of a power vacuum in Lebanon.
He also demanded that Shia movement Hezbollah pull out of the war in neighbouring Syria.
Lebanon has not had a president since May because politicians have been unable to agree on a candidate that would satisfy the two main political blocs — Al Hariri’s Sunni-led March 14 alliance and Hezbollah’s March 8 coalition.
Lebanon’s sectarian tensions have been worsened by the three-year-old war in Syria, which pits overwhelmingly Sunni rebels against President Bashar Al Assad, a member of the Shia-derived Alawite minority, and allied Shia groups, including Hezbollah.
Al Hariri told his supporters by televised broadcast that electing a president was the first step to resolving the political deadlock and would open the way to Lebanon holding parliamentary elections on time.
“We want parliamentary elections on schedule, and we do not want an extension for parliament. But the entrance to the parliamentary elections is electing a president — today before tomorrow.”
Al Hariri, seen as one of the few leaders of Lebanon’s Sunnis, has been in self-imposed exile between France and Saudi Arabia. He has feared attack since his government was toppled in 2011 by the March 8 coalition.
Elections have been delayed once — they were supposed to be held in June last year but postponed until November. Under Lebanon’s political system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker of parliament a Shia. Reuters
