by Paul Dakiki

Lebanon’s Maronite prelates call on political leaders to act before the institutional vacuum leads to the “fall of the Republic”. Speaking about the country waste management crisis, they call on officials to “differentiate between petty interests and the greater national good”. Similarly, they said that the Iran nuclear deal shows that dialogue is crucial, as Pope Francis said.

Dimane (AsiaNews) – Lebanon’s Maronite bishops issued a fresh appeal to the country’s parties and leaders to present their candidates for the presidency and let parliament vote “in a democratic and constitutional manner”.

The prelates released their statement after their monthly meeting, which was held yesterday at the patriarch’s summer residence in Dimane. The superiors of Maronite orders also took part.

The final statement noted, "the deep concern vis-à-vis the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, which could bring about the fall of the Republic itself."

"The political paralysis and economic crisis it generates forces everyone to give priority to the national interest and national unity,” the press release read, “because it is not possible for Lebanon to overcome its political crisis if it is exposed to shocks that threaten its unity."

For more than a year, the country has been without a president. Since May 2014, parliament has met several times to elect a new president, but it has never reached the necessary quorum because it has been boycotted by the ‘8 March’ coalition, led by Hezbollah and Michel Aoun’s Christian movement.

The Maronite Patriarch, Beshara al-Rahi (pictured), has often tried to rally Christian parties around a common candidate, but has failed so far because of divisions between those like Aoun, who are aligned with Hezbollah and Iran, and those aligned with groups linked to Saudi Arabia, the great  patron of Lebanese politics.

The bishops also spoke about the waste crisis following the closure of the Naameh landfill. The presidential crisis and political squabbling have delayed finding a solution to this problem. Addressing the country's waste disposal crisis, they said, “Officials should differentiate between petty interests and the greater national good.”

Commenting on the recent agreement between Iran and the West over Tehran's contentious nuclear program, they said, “It demonstrated the necessity of dialogue as demanded by Pope Francis”. Now they hope that dialogue will pave the way to ending regional conflicts.

• lebanon
• maronite
• bishops
• presidential
• vacuum
• waste
• crisis