In the Eid Al-Adha sermons delivered across Lebanon’s mosques on Wednesday, preachers urged the necessity of electing a new president for the crisis-hit country, warning of the repercussions of a prolonged vacuum at the top state post.

The imams gave sermons focusing on the dire social and living conditions endured by the Lebanese people. They called on officials to embark on finalizing the constitutional obligations, mainly the presidential elections.

“We learn from Hajj that this Islamic nation is one nation, strong and steadfast in facing all the challenges that beset it. Hajj shows human dignity and pure instinct, and the meanings of giving, spending, and forgiveness,” said Dar al-Fatwa secretary Sheikh Amin Al-Kurdi during the Eid sermon at Beirut’s Mohammed al-Amine Mosque.

On the worsening living and economic conditions in Lebanon, Kurdi said that Lebanese officials continue to turn a blind eye to the suffering of their people and disregard their dignity.

“…How long will this disregard for the dignity of the people and the misuse of their rights, their affairs, and their heart and psychological concern last?” he asked. He urged officials to “return to their senses” and shoulder responsibility.

In his Eid speech, Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Sami Abu Al-Mona also criticized Lebanese leaders.

“The time has come in Lebanon to embark on saving the boat from an ill fate, and its rescue can only be achieved by tightening the state’s sails,” he said.

He stressed the necessity of respecting the country’s constitutional entitlements and electing a “consensual president capable of sailing the country to the safety of shore”.

He voiced calls on “the officials in our country to wake up from the slumber of arguments and maneuvers, and to assume their responsibility towards the people and the state”.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of President Michel Aoun ended in October 2022. Since 2019, the country has also been grappling with a sharp economic and financial crisis largely blamed on corruption and mismanagement.