Salam Advocates Rational Dialogue to Resolve Country's Problems

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said on Friday that the Lebanese have no option but to resort to dialogue, reiterating his call for the election of a new president.

“We the Lebanese have no option but a rational dialogue (based on) openness,” Salam said.

He said he was optimistic about talks between different factions and welcomed the prospect of holding a comprehensive dialogue which tackles the country's problems.

Salam hoped that all-party talks would resolve Lebanon's “substantial problems.”

Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal held the second round of dialogue earlier this week with the aim of defusing Sunni-Shiite tension.

Similar talks are expected to be held between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, two presidential candidates.

Salam reiterated his call on the speedy election of a president who preserves the Constitution.

The election of a new head of state “would organize political life in Lebanon and give back the constitutional institutions their productive life to serve the nation and the citizen.”

Lebanon has been without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May.

The rival MPs have failed to agree on a successor over their differences on a compromise candidate.

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