Report: Saudi Arabia Suggests Two Proposals to Avoid Presidential Vacuum
Saudi Arabia suggested two proposals to help Lebanon avoid any vacuum in the Presidency post amid President Michel Suleiman's firm rejection to renew his term, which ends in May 2014.
According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Monday, Saudi officials are convinced that the Lebanese rival parties will fail to agree on holding the presidential elections due to sharp differences.
“The matter will create a presidential vacuum in which power will be in the hand of Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati's resigned cabinet that the Saudis describe as Hizbullah's government,” a source told the newspaper.
The source said that Saudis suggest the extension of Suleiman's mandate for another three years, in order to maintain the current power distribution and to avoid any presidential vacuum.
The source told al-Akhbar that Suleiman's mandate extension would be by reelecting him for another half term as he had continuously reiterated his rejection to extending his presidential term.
Suleiman, whose mandate expires in May 2014, said previously that he would challenge the extension of his mandate if the parliament took such a move.
Another solution would be holding the presidential elections and voting for either Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji or Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to the presidential post.
Suleiman returned last week from Saudi Arabia, where he held talks with King Abdullah during a meeting attended by ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, top Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Salman and the Saudi ministers of foreign affairs, interior and information.
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