Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops to call for national dialogue in Lebanon

The Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon on Friday announced that it will seek a national dialogue in the country, as it stressed that the election of a president remains the top priority.

“There is no priority that is higher than the priority of electing a president and we call on MPs to elect a president immediately,” the Council said in a statement that followed a meeting.

“Without a president, there can be no protecting for the constitution, no supervision over the regularity of the work of state institutions, no separation of powers and no exit from the political, economic and financial paralysis, seeing as without a president the state plunges into total paralysis,” the Council warned.

It also revealed that it is working on a plan under which a “truth and reconciliation commission” would be appointed to “communicate with all Lebanese religious, political and civilian parties to pave the way for calling for dialogue.”

“We call for a real dialogue and reconciliation has become an urgent necessity, because Lebanon is passing through the most dangerous phase of its political, economic, financial and social history,” the Council added.