BEIRUT: The U.N. envoy to Lebanon Sigrid Kaag said Thursday after meeting with country's Maronite patriarch that she would be pressing lawmakers to elect a president vote soon to end the 11-month-long vacuum.
“The patriarch underlined to us his grave concern about the protracted vacancy in the office of the presidency soon marking a one-year vacuum,” Kaag, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, said after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai at noon in Bkirki, seat of the Maronite church.
“We shared this concern, specifically that the 11-month stalemate in the election of the president of the republic is undermining Lebanon's ability to address the security, economic and social challenges.”
Kaag, who was accompanied by the heads of missions of the permanent Security Council members, in addition to Germany and Italy, said the presidential vacuum was jeopardizing Lebanon’s political institutions.
“We committed to sending a strong message to Lebanese leaders ... to act responsibly and put Lebanon's stability and national interests ahead of partisan politics,” she said.
Lebanon has been without president since May 25 of last year, when former President Michel Sleiman left office at the end of his term.
The country’s two main political camps, March 8 and March 14, have failed to agree on a consensus president. Neither coalition has enough members to secure a majority vote to elect a president.
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