The president must be “wise, have a sense of national responsibility, integrity and ability to bring together all Lebanese,” he told a delegation of Sunnis MPs at Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut.

President Michel Aoun’s term ends on October 31.

Derian warned that Lebanon was moving rapidly towards becoming a “non-state” and Arabs and world are “ignoring it because of its poor political management on all levels.”

He called on the MPs to help in ushering in change by “reclaiming the presidency of the republic and restoring respect to it and its role on the internal and external scenes.”

Furthermore, he highlighted the “extreme” importance of the position of president in Lebanon in specific because the “Christian president is a symbol of coexistence on which the system is founded.”

“The Arab recognize this position because he is the only Christian president in the Arab world,” remarked Derian.

The meeting at Dar al-Fatwa tackled the upcoming presidential elections. The MPs and Derian held closed-door talks for nearly two hours.

In a statement after the meeting, the lawmakers pledged to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty, unity and freedoms.

They vowed to preserve its relations with other countries, especially the Arab world where it belongs.

They pledged to elect a president within the constitutional deadline and reiterated their commitment to the Taif Accord that outlines Lebanon’s Arab identity and on which its national unity and harmony between religions is based.