The only solution to Lebanon’s political woes is to breathe life into state institutions starting with the election of a president, Independence Movement leader Michel Moawad said Saturday.

“Yes, the solution to Lebanon’s woes lies in the election of a president; a president who heads a sovereign, independent and democratic state rather than a head of state who presides over mafias and sectarian clans,” Moawad said.

Moawad warned against political compromises that have undermined state institutions and plunged Lebanon into paralysis.

“Assuming that the election of a president would pave the way for a political solution, that solution would be to rebuild the republic,” Moawad told supporters, representatives of Lebanese parties from across the political spectrum and civil society members at the annual Social Aid Association dinner.

“The misinterpretation of the national ‘pact’ and granting veto power to a faction within the Cabinet as agreed upon in Doha is in violation of the constitution and the Taif Accord just like bilateral or national political dialogue has substituted for state institutions and undermined the Taif agreement,” he added.

Moawad argued that the prolonged political deadlock since 2006 has plunged Lebanon’s state institutions into paralysis and laid the foundations for a constitutional convention.

“We are witnessing today an era whereby the Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each theoretically possess veto power in violation of the constitution; And I say theoretically because the Christians still lack veto power under this tripartite equation,” Moawad said.

“This course of action encourages the formation of sectarian coalitions that seek to acquire the veto right in a bid to preserve the political balance, which should have been guaranteed by the constitution,” he added.

Moawad said that only corruption has transcended political and sectarian divisions and has become the “regulatory authority governing relations between Lebanon’s political powers.”

“Certain political factions exchange blows in the morning and then agree to have a piece of the pie in the evening,” he added.