Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai accused the parliament, with its president and members, of “depriving Lebanon deliberately and without legal justification of a president.” Thus, violating the constitution in its preamble, which declares Lebanon a democratic parliamentary republic.
It also violates the election process in Article 49, according to al-Rai and the loss of its legislative competence, reducing it to merely an electoral body according to Article 75.
During his annual Easter address for 2024 on Saturday in Bkerke, he regretted the lack of an authority that would bring back the council to order according to the Constitution, highlighting the disintegration of the state institutions as a result, and the suffering of the people.
The Maronite Patriarch emphasized that it is “our responsibility to voice the people’s concerns, which are numerous, and relay them to officials and the public.”
Al-Rai tackled the education sector by saying that it is still grappling with the economic crisis that has shaken its entity and bankrupted its institutions, placing school administrations facing two challenges: improving living conditions for teachers and the inability of many parents to pay what is required of them.
He pointed out that the emigration of competent and experienced teachers is a serious matter that negatively affects the quality of education, calling for enacting new legislations to protect teachers.
