The Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai described the 12th presidential election session as a “farce”, as lawmakers failed to elect a president on June 14.
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During Sunday’s sermon, Al-Rai said: “How can we accept the farce that occurred during the presidential election session, during which the Constitution was violated with cold blood? Is this how we strip Lebanon of its exemplary characteristics and deprive it of its mission in its Arab environment?”
As for Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch for the Archdiocese of Beirut Elias Audi, he said that “twelve sessions to elect a president were nothing but a miscarriage, preventing the salvation of a country that should be a homeland for all its citizens.”
He added that “representation in parliament is not an escape from responsibility; it is the best representation of the people.”
Metropolitan Audi wondered, “do the public truly support their deputies’ behaviour and their negligence in performing their primary duty?”
Regarding the withdrawal of lawmakers from previous sessions in order to obstruct the election process, he asked: “Is it a proper course of action for someone to cast their vote and then leave the hall as if they are not concerned about the country or with the outcome of the vote?
He continued: “Is this how democratic practice should be? And is the loss of a vote a trivial matter that does not deserve attention or objection? What is this destructive absurdity? How can a country be built when the people’s deputies cannot respect the constitution and elect a president , a president for the entire country, elected by all parliamentarians, who serves all people, not just specific groups?”
He called on political leaders to put aside their personal interests in order to save the country.
