Maronite bishops: deputies must not boycott presidential elections
Beirut (AsiaNews) – It is the parliamentarians “duty” to take part in upcoming elections for the President of the Republic, because “no-one can boycott their own nation”. A strong call to a sense of public reasonability and for the deputies to take part in the September 25th ballot was at the centre of an appeal launched today by the Maronite bishops at the end of their monthly meeting.
Gathered in Bkerke under the leadership of Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, who returned Sunday from a series of meetings at the Vatican, the bishops provided no details regarding the name of the person they maintain to be the best candidate for the role of head of state – who according to the constitution must be Maronite Christian. However they did outline a profile. The president should be “a person of integrity, audacious, independent, a man of peace and of a great culture, respectable and capable of resolving all the political and economic questions as well as the issue of migration which wounds our nations”, having caused the departure of over a million young people, of all religious backgrounds. Staying on the theme of presidential elections, there is great expectation ahead of the meeting between Parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, and Patriarch Sfeir due in the next 72 hours.
The bishop’s message reiterates the prelate’s support of the formula which made Lebanon a laboratory, an “example” of how 18 religious confessions can live together. The bishops also renewed their appeal to the international community to help Lebanon to resolve the pressing issue of its foreign debt which exceeds 40 billion us dollars.
The bishops, concluding their eighth appeal, praise the Lebanese army which eliminated the presence of fundamentalists in the Nahr el Bared camp and extended their condolences to the families of the 170 soldiers killed in action.
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