Lebanon - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, considered that in wake of the parliament's catastrophic failure to elect a president of the republic, we are faced with no solution but to call for an international conference on Lebanon.

"Faced with the drastic failure of the Parliament Council to elect a new president of the republic, with the five sessions being a farcical drama...and the failure of all internal dialogues...we find no solution except by calling for an international conference for Lebanon to renew the guarantee of the independent Lebanese existence, the entity and the democratic system, and the state’s control alone over its lands based first on its constitution and then on all international resolutions issued regarding Lebanon," the Patriarch said.

"Any delay in adopting this constitutional and international solution would involve Lebanon in non-peaceful risks that no one can contain under these circumstances," he maintained.

The Patriarch's words came during his sermon in Bkirki this morning as he presided over Sunday Mass marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Maronite League.

Al-Rahi deemed that each time we are faced with the deadline to elect a President of the Republic, innovations and tricks begin to be invented to control the course of the electoral process and its results at the expense of the democratic path, while the constitution is clear in its text and spirit regarding the date of the election, the quorum for holding sessions, and the quorum for the election. 

"They speak of a consensual president. The notion is welcomed in principle, provided that there is no negative intention, and on condition that a free president is chosen who will abide by his oath and the constitution, and is able to stop conflicts, make reconciliations, and tighten the bonds of internal unity," al-Rahi went on to emphasize.  

He added: "The consensual president, in our understanding, is one who holds a solid stance on the basic issues, and owns sovereign options that cannot be compromised before the strong and the powerful, nor in front of the weak and vulnerable, neither at home nor abroad. The consensual president is the one who respects, applies and defends the constitution, and remains above factional and partisan affiliations."

"The president we want is a president upto the standards of Lebanon and the Lebanese, who raises his voice in the face of the violators, the corrupt, and those with multiple loyalties, based on his position above all parties; and who says to those who tamper with the fate of the country: stop your abuse of Lebanon, stop torturing the Lebanese, and stop proceeding with projects that are destined for the inevitable fall, sooner or later, because they are against the logic of history, and against the logic of Lebanon...," al-Rahi underlined.

Finally, on his call for an international conference over Lebanon, the Patriarch stressed that "the United Nations is concerned with every country that considers itself a friend of Lebanon to move to hold this conference."