What did the Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Rai, mean when he drew up a portrait of the new head of state and called for the emergence of a new parliamentary and governmental authority, with parliamentary elections just two years away?
The head of the Maronite Church, who regularly calls for the election of a new president, fiercely criticizing Amal and Hezbollah for blocking it without naming them, stepped up a gear on Sunday, defining the qualities that the new resident of Baabda should possess.
In his homily at the mass he celebrated at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, for the 10th jubilee of the consecration of Lebanon and the Middle East to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rai called for the election of an “exceptional president who is characterized by his integrity, his patriotism, his courage, his balance, and his maturity, who places legitimacy above all other considerations, who blocks any attack on it, and who watches carefully over the proper functioning of the authorities and respect for the Constitution, as well as the maintenance of national equilibrium.”
He called for “the emergence of a new national, parliamentary and ministerial constitutional authority, which carries out political and economic reforms under the auspices of the international community, and works to proclaim Lebanon’s neutrality.”
The Maronite Patriarch deemed it equally necessary for “the Arab and international community to provide Lebanon with substantial financial aid, to be disbursed under the supervision of a restricted commission of donor countries until such time as the world’s confidence in the Lebanese authorities is restored.”
Rai also stressed the importance of “revitalizing and cleaning up the banking system and gradually returning depositors’ money”. “These are the people who will revive the private sector and promote economic, financial and real estate recovery”, he added.
The patriarch called for the “serious application of UN Security Council resolutions, in particular 1559, 1680 and 1701, which guarantee the independence, sovereignty and extension of the authority of the State, alone, over all Lebanese territory.”
