Daily Star.com.lb

The presidency issue should only be resolved internally, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said in his monthly column published Friday.

“The outside [states] did not elect our lawmakers, we did… The issue of electing a president should be an internal issue and should only be resolved at the Parliament,” Ibrahim said in the 29th edition of the General Security magazine.

The security chief opined that he did not deny “the strategic importance” of external parties in solving the presidential crisis, but said that regional and world powers “should not impose their will on others.”

Lebanon has been without a head of state since Michel Sleiman’s term ended in May 2014. Two main front-runners for the country’s top post have emerged: Marada Movement chief MP Sleiman Frangieh and Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, both of whom belong to the March 8 coalition.

A 35th parliamentary session to elect a president due to be held on Feb. 8 is not expected to achieve quorum due to the ongoing boycott by March 8 parties.