Hizbullah Delegation in Bkirki to Tackle al-Rahi's Jerusalem Visit, Presidential Election
A Hizbullah delegation tackled on Friday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi pressing issues in the country foremost the importance of electing a president who represents all the Lebanese, holding onto the party's point of view regarding the patriarch's Jerusalem visit.
“We hope al-Rahi would take into consideration our stance on his visit to Jerusalem,” Hizbullah's politburo chief Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, who headed the delegation, told reporters at Bkirki.
He explained that al-Rahi stressed that he will visit Jerusalem for “religious purposes.”
“Al-Rahi's visit would have negative repercussions on Lebanon and the region,” the official said in an attempt to deter the patriarch.
The delegation, which was greeted by Bishop Samir Mazloum, was comprised of Hizbullah politburo members Ghaleb Abu Zainab and Mustafa al-Hajj Ali and member of the Muslim-Christian Council Hareth Shehab.
The meeting comes in light of al-Rahi's controversial visit to the Holy Land and arising fears of vacuum at the helm of the country's top Christian post after political arch-foes failed to reach consensus on a candidate.
“There shouldn't be vacuum in the presidency and lawmakers have a responsibility to attend the parliamentary sessions,” al-Sayyed said despite Hizbullah Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc MPs' boycott of the last three sessions set to elect a new head of state over sharp differences on the candidate.
He continued that Hizbullah “wants a president for all the Lebanese.”
“If there is an agreement among the different factions on a candidate, then we would head to parliament to elect a president,” al-Sayyed added.
Al-Rahi is expected to travel to Jerusalem to welcome Pope Francis during his brief visit to the occupied Palestinian territories on May 24-26.
The Patriarch's visit is diplomatically noteworthy because Lebanon remains technically at war with Israel and bans its citizens from entering the Hebrew state.
The expected visit was met with huge controversy in the country, with some considering it a “historical mistake that opens the door for normalization with Israel” and Church authorities repeatedly assuring that it has a strictly religious character.
Maronite clergy may to travel to the Holy Land to minister to the estimated 10,000 faithful there.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said last week that al-Rahi was not part of the official delegation heading to the Holy Land and was going on his own initiative.
Al-Rahi would be the first patriarch to travel to Israel since the Jewish state was created in 1948.
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