Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Ziad Hawat warned on Thursday against “confessional imbalance within certain public administrations,” calling for the swift election of a president to restore balance in the country and relaunch the normal functioning of institutions.
Hawat denounced the Council of Ministers’ latest appointment of nine customs inspectors from the same religious community.
“This is a flagrant violation of the principle of confessional balance,” he declared after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai in Bkerke.
Hawat headed an LF delegation to Bkerke to raise that issue specifically.
“The Council of Ministers’ decision has overridden that of the State Council, though the latter had already recognized the right of nine individuals—who had submitted an appeal before the State Council—to be appointed to the position of customs controller,” Hawat denounced.
He wondered whether “the goal is to empty public administration institutions of Christians and change the face of Lebanon,” calling on the Council of Ministers to “reconsider its decision.”
Referring to the fact that land registry services in Mount Lebanon have been closed since October 2002, Hawat stressed that this situation “entails enormous losses for the public and private sectors.”
Patriarch Rai also met with the Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alaa Moussa, who warned of the dangers of a presidential vacancy. In this context, he informed the Patriarch of the steps taken by Egypt within the framework of the Quintet, alongside the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to put an end to the presidential vacancy. Consultations are underway in this respect, between the ambassadors of the Group of Five and the various Lebanese political parties.
