Lebanon religious summit urges election of president

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s most prominent religious leaders announced Monday that they would hold meetings every three months to discuss mutual concerns and issue recommendations. After their first meeting at Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite church, the figures called on Lebanon to elect a president.

Attendees of the “Spiritual Summit” issued a joint statement following a four-hour-meeting, which included Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian, Deputy Head of the High Islamic Shiite Council Abdel-Amir Qabalan, and Druze spiritual leader Naim Hassan.

The summit’s final statement urged the election of a new president for Lebanon, after 10 months of presidential vacuum.

“The attendants express their concern and devastation because of the continuation of the presidential void,” the statement said. “This void threatens the sovereignty, security and safety of Lebanon.”

Describing the presidential election sessions that the parliament had held since last May as “sterile,” the clerics called on the parties engaging in dialogue to tackle the matter.

“The ongoing dialogues between some parties, although we encourage and support them, have had little outcome and are yet to treat the major source of pain,” they said.

The statement also tackled socioeconomic difficulties in Lebanon, calling on the Cabinet to approve a budget as soon as possible.

They said Lebanon ought to reduce public waste and increase the government’s “investment-oriented spending” to create more jobs.

The religious figures addressed the international community, asking for an increase in aid to support Lebanon in handling the Syrian refugee crisis.

They warned that the “unorganized flow and spread” of Syrian refugees in the country had put the Lebanese citizen’s security and their various services sectors at risk.

Participants also commented on the deterioration of the security conditions in Yemen, calling on Arab states to “contain the escalation and protect the sovereignty, security and unity of all Arab countries.”

They expressed concern about the conflicts taking sectarian forms in the region.

The rise of fundamentalism and terrorism was also an item on the meeting’s agenda.

The statement condemned the aggressive behavior of “terrorist groups that have put on the coat of religion,” calling for moderate religious speech to confront extremism.