Lebanese cardinal: Presidential elections first step to fix crisis

Published: 2007-03-06

BKERKE, Lebanon (CNS) -- The patriarch of Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Church said early presidential elections could be the first step in resolving the country's ongoing political crisis. "I've addressed a letter to (Lebanese President Emile Lahoud) to tell him that he is the judge of the situation and that he must step down ... because the country will not support his position," Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, Maronite patriarch, told Catholic News Service March 5. Cardinal Sfeir suggested that a "simple solution" to the dilemma would be to elect a new president now in preparation to replace Lahoud when his term expires in November. The presidential election would be followed by the creation of a new Cabinet and parliamentary elections, and the examination of the country's electoral law, which are all conditions stipulated by the Hezbollah-led government opposition. However, Lahoud, a Maronite Catholic, has claimed he cannot hand over power to a government which he has been calling illegitimate since the resignation of all five Shiite Cabinet ministers in November. Lebanon's Constitution says the president must be Christian, and the prime minister and parliamentary speaker must be Sunni and Shiite, respectively. Members of all religious sects must be represented at the Cabinet level.

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