Maronite Patriarch Boutros al-Rai welcomed the renewal of Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun’s mandate for another year, a move that he said spared the Army’s unity and integrity.
‘We thank God that he spared Lebanon a security risk by having the Parliament renew the mandates of the commanders of the Army and security forces,’ al-Rai said in his Sunday sermon in Bkerke.
‘The supreme national interest was to avoid a deadly vacuum in the leadership of the Army and to stabilize the unity of the Army to avoid any destabilization in its ranks due to change,’ he added.
The patriarch also stressed the importance of backing that move with the election of a president of the Republic.
‘Let the nation’s representatives realize that the overwhelming political chaos, the violation of the constitution, and divisions cannot be removed except with the presence of a president of state,’ al-Rai said, stressing, ‘There is no state without a president with clean hands.’
He added, ‘We also wish and pray that this goodwill will
be an enlightening move, so that the parliament will convene quickly and the president will be elected.’
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon