Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi on Monday received a delegation from Hezbollah headed by its Political Council Head Ibrahim Amin Al-Sayyed.

“The election of a president is necessary and has the priority over all other matters, that is why things require more keenness on the election of a president as soon as possible,” Al-Sayyed said after the meeting.

Calling for a “real and serious” dialogue among the parliamentary blocs to agree “on a president enjoying a high level of consensus and political and popular legitimacy,” he stressed that the country’s next president should not be “a challenge or confrontation president.”

Asked about the nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, he said that Hezbollah had the best relation with the army commander that is “still ongoing,” noting that "the presidential juncture is somewhere else.”

“We do not put a veto on anyone, but our opinion is clear, and the path toward it is consensus and dialogue,” the Hezbollah official added.

As for the relation with Free Patriotic Movement Leader Gebran Bassil, he said: “The FPM is a major movement and its has its weight. Bassil “has never been under Hezbollah’s umbrella and we know how to agree with him and how and when to disagree with him."

“We are happy with what has been accomplished regarding the memorandum of understanding with the FPM and we know how to agree with each other,” he added.

Al-Sayyed also said that there was no divergence in opinions between Hezbollah and Al-Rahi and that the meeting did not tackle the issue of “neutrality or internationalization.”