Asiri Hopes 'Ongoing Efforts' Will Lead to Election of President
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri hoped Sunday that the “ongoing efforts” in the country will soon lead to the election of a new president.
“Asiri held a series of phone talks with the Christian leaders, topped by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, to offer them Easter greetings,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported.
He hoped Lebanon will be able to “overcome that difficult period that it is going through,” NNA said.
The Saudi ambassador also hoped “the ongoing efforts will be crowned with the election of a new president,” the agency added.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and the Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah and some of their allies have been boycotting the electoral sessions.
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Riyadh, launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his suggestion was rejected by the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hizbullah and the FPM, as well as March 14's Lebanese Forces, have argued that FPM founder MP Michel Aoun is more eligible than Franjieh to become president given the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
Y.R.
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