Lebanese patriarch warns against calls for postponing vote


FILE PHOTO: Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai is pictured in Bkerke, Lebanon October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A decision by Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician to step back from politics and boycott a parliamentary election in May must not be used as an excuse to call for a delay, the Maronite Christian patriarch said on Sunday.

Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said he was surprised by three times-former prime minister Saad al-Hariri's decision and said he hoped Sunnis would still take part so the election "expresses the position of all Lebanese".

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