The Kataeb political bureau expressed “its total rejection of this tendency (adopted by the Amal-Hezbollah duo in particular) to link the fate of Lebanon to the ongoing conflict in the region.” It demanded in this context “the immediate application of Security Council Resolution 1701 by both parties,” and above all “the cessation of all negotiations on the demarcation of (land) borders in the absence of a president.”
“Only the president is authorized to negotiate and conclude international agreements,” the party’s political bureau insisted in a statement issued on Wednesday at the end of its weekly meeting. It stressed that “the election of a head of state will remain an absolute priority in order to meet the imminent demands of the Lebanese people.” It continued, “We also call for the implementation of Resolution 1559 to restore the monopoly of legitimate violence to the hands of the state and legal forces to ensure stability.”
In addition, the Kataeb political bureau expressed its “rejection of this new presidential maneuver” adopted by the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri, who recently called for a traditional dialogue. According to the Kataeb, “This dialogue will not succeed as long as the Hezbollah camp is still clinging to the candidacy of Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh, forcibly defying the will of the majority of the Lebanese people.”
Furthermore, the political bureau of the sovereignist party criticized “the proliferation of militias at the expense of legitimate forces. There are now more than six on the southern front, the latest addition being the Amal movement, which has announced its involvement.”
“The Speaker of the House is supposed to be the guardian of the Constitution, legitimacy and state institutions,” it added.
On Wednesday morning, the Council of Maronite Bishops warned against “current attempts, both at international and local levels, to adopt a delimitation of the Lebanese-Israeli land border outside legal and institutional frameworks.”
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