Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the upcoming year will mark "the birth of a new Lebanon," built on accountability and institutions as opposed to one of sects and parties, during a Christmas speech, Lebanon's state media, the National News Agency (NNA), reported on Thursday.
He added that "our diplomatic contacts have not stopped to ward off the specter of war" with Israel, noting that "the specter of war is still there."
The NNA also reported on Aoun's earlier meeting with Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Bechara Boutros al-Rahi in Bkerke, where the two exchanged Christmas greetings and posed for photos.
Aoun determined to keep elections on schedule
Aoun noted that he is determined to hold the upcoming elections on schedule, calling it "a constitutional duty which must be fulfilled."
He also reaffirmed that both Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri were fully committed to holding elections when they are meant to.
Aoun also addressed the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon, describing it as a "bleeding wound," concluding that "we hope to end wars and live in peace."