Bassil Conditions Approval of Suleiman's Proposal, Calls for Action on Kidnapped Nuns
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil welcomed on Sunday a proposal for lawmakers not to boycott parliamentary sessions on the presidential elections on condition there is prior agreement on a “strong” president.
President Michel Suleiman appealed on Saturday for MPs “to assume their responsibilities and not to deny the trust given to them by the people by guaranteeing a quorum for parliamentary sessions and avoiding the danger of a presidential vacuum.”
“The idea for a commitment to head to parliament to elect a president is welcomed on condition that there is prior agreement on a strong president,” Bassil said.
There are fears that the rivalry between the March 8 and 14 camps, which has so far prevented the formation of a new government, would spillover to the presidential elections and lead to a vacuum.
Suleiman's six-year term ends in May 2014. But the parliament should start meeting on March 25, the deadline set by the Constitution to agree on a new head of state.
“The agreement on a weak president is a huge crime,” Bassil, who is also a Free Patriotic Movement official, told the news conference.
“We need Christian unity on essential issues in Lebanon,” he said. “It is our duty as Christians to agree on some axioms on the presidential elections.”
“It is essential for the president to be strong but he should be strong within his sect,” he added.
Bassil also dealt with another issue that concerns Christians.
He said the kidnapping of Greek Orthodox nuns by rebels from Syria's Mar Takla convent in Maaloula was a “rude” act.
The rebels overran the village and the nuns were being kept in the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud.
“There should be a peaceful action by the people to make their voices heard” on the nuns, Bassil said.
Lebanese politicians and mainly Christians should take extraordinary action to form delegations to visit the countries that are backing the rebels in Syria and stop the attack on Christians, he said.
Bassil told reporters that assaulting churches in Syria and clergymen and nuns required strong diplomatic action.
“Lebanon's Christians have a moral, religious and humanitarian duty to take action,” he said.
The nuns denied they were kidnapped, in a video broadcast by al-Jazeera news channel on Friday.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis called for prayers for the nuns and "for all kidnap victims in the conflict.”
The abduction has increased concerns about the treatment of Christians by hard-liners in the rebel ranks.
Bassil had been expected to discuss about two oil exploration decrees after news broke out that caretaker Premier Najib Miqati will not put them on the agenda of a cabinet session that he intends to hold.
The decrees call for demarcating 10 maritime oil exploration blocks and setting up a revenue-sharing model.
But the caretaker energy minister did not bring up the subject in his press conference.
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