The Maronite Patriarch, Bechara al-Rai, implicitly expressed his opposition to a national conference for dialogue, still desired by the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, with the aim of reaching a consensus on the presidential election. He renewed his criticism of the Amal-Hezbollah tandem, holding them responsible for blocking the presidential election.
In his message to the Lebanese on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity, Archbishop al-Rai castigated the Lebanese leaders on Saturday, saying, “You are committing a crime against the presidency of the Republic, the constitutional institutions, and the Lebanese people by persisting in linking the election of a president to a person, a project, or a hidden objective.”
This came in a thinly veiled allusion to the Amal-Hezbollah tandem, which is clinging to the candidacy of Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh for the presidency of the Republic and preventing the election of a president by provoking a lack of quorums at every parliamentary electoral meeting. In this situation, “the victim is the state,” targeted “in its entity,” as well as the people who see their “rights stolen,” continued the patriarch.
Al-Rai severely condemned plans to “destroy the state," as “there can be no state without a president,” deploring the presidential vacuum, which “has lasted for a year and three months, with no way out.”
“Some are talking about an agreement around a president. This is something that should happen through successive electoral sessions in accordance with democratic rule,” he hammered. In saying so, he was indirectly responding to information circulating in circles close to Berri, according to which the latter, encouraged by the consensus that prevented a vacuum at the head of the Army, was considering relaunching, after the end-of-year holidays, the idea of a national dialogue conference to try to reach an agreement around the presidential election.
Al-Rai recalled that it is the responsibility of the president of the Republic to “safeguard the Constitution,” to “manage the constitutional institutions, namely parliament and the government,” and to ensure that the laws are applied far from any “injustice.”
In this respect, he referred to the laws passed by Parliament on December 15, relating to the regulations governing teachers in private schools and the management of school budgets. He took up the cause of the schools contesting the increases voted by Parliament.
After recalling the opposition expressed by Catholic schools to these laws, as expressed by the announcement of an open strike, the patriarch called on the parties concerned to “hold a dialogue session to resolve the points of disagreement.”
In this context, the patriarch referred to the role of “church institutions, be they educational, medical, or social establishments,” which make “enormous sacrifices” to pursue their social mission, “thus assisting the state in this responsibility.” “However, it is truly regrettable that those in charge of the state show no interest in, or even fight against, these institutions, thus depriving them of their revenues,” he concluded.
In his message to the Lebanese on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity, Archbishop al-Rai castigated the Lebanese leaders on Saturday, saying, “You are committing a crime against the presidency of the Republic, the constitutional institutions, and the Lebanese people by persisting in linking the election of a president to a person, a project, or a hidden objective.”
This came in a thinly veiled allusion to the Amal-Hezbollah tandem, which is clinging to the candidacy of Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh for the presidency of the Republic and preventing the election of a president by provoking a lack of quorums at every parliamentary electoral meeting. In this situation, “the victim is the state,” targeted “in its entity,” as well as the people who see their “rights stolen,” continued the patriarch.
Al-Rai severely condemned plans to “destroy the state," as “there can be no state without a president,” deploring the presidential vacuum, which “has lasted for a year and three months, with no way out.”
“Some are talking about an agreement around a president. This is something that should happen through successive electoral sessions in accordance with democratic rule,” he hammered. In saying so, he was indirectly responding to information circulating in circles close to Berri, according to which the latter, encouraged by the consensus that prevented a vacuum at the head of the Army, was considering relaunching, after the end-of-year holidays, the idea of a national dialogue conference to try to reach an agreement around the presidential election.
Al-Rai recalled that it is the responsibility of the president of the Republic to “safeguard the Constitution,” to “manage the constitutional institutions, namely parliament and the government,” and to ensure that the laws are applied far from any “injustice.”
In this respect, he referred to the laws passed by Parliament on December 15, relating to the regulations governing teachers in private schools and the management of school budgets. He took up the cause of the schools contesting the increases voted by Parliament.
After recalling the opposition expressed by Catholic schools to these laws, as expressed by the announcement of an open strike, the patriarch called on the parties concerned to “hold a dialogue session to resolve the points of disagreement.”
In this context, the patriarch referred to the role of “church institutions, be they educational, medical, or social establishments,” which make “enormous sacrifices” to pursue their social mission, “thus assisting the state in this responsibility.” “However, it is truly regrettable that those in charge of the state show no interest in, or even fight against, these institutions, thus depriving them of their revenues,” he concluded.
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