Sfeir scolds politicians for failure to bridge divide

Patriarch laments 'detestable bickering'

The Daily Star
Monday, August 20, 2007
By Hani M. Bathish

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said that politicians in Lebanon were taking steps backward rather than moving forward to resolve the country's political crisis as the presidential election looms. He said this lack of progress did not leave much hope for resolving the crisis and allowing life to resume as before.

Sfeir, who delivered his Sunday sermon at the Patriarchate's church in Dimane, said each political side maintained unshakable opinions and positions and had failed to take a single step to bridge the gap or foster understanding between them. "This creates frustration in people's hearts and drives them to emigrate in search of an alternate, safer country to live in, away from the daily, detestable bickering," Sfeir said.

The patriarch said that those holding political office usually aimed to serve citizens in an effort to improve living conditions, adding that the benefits of holding office cannot go solely to officials the holders of the political office for the satisfaction of their desires.

Free Patriotic Movement official Issam Abu Jamra declared support for the idea of establishing a military government in Lebanon if a new president could not be elected before the end of President Emile Lahoud's term in office. Army Commander General Michel Suleiman has become a popular choice in recent days to lead the state if rival political factions fail to elect a successor to Lahoud.

The newspaper An-Nahar quoted Abu Jamra as saying that the FPM would not oppose a constitutional amendment to elect a new president "if it aims at salvaging Lebanon," as Sfeir has said. "The amendment would in this case be to safeguard the public interest," Abu Jamra said.

Asked if the formation of a military cabinet would be a better choice than splitting the nation between two governments, Abu Jamra said a military government "would be a more suitable solution at the security, economic and political levels." FPM leader MP Michel Aoun rejected last Thursday a constitutional amendment to allow the election of active grade-one civil servants, such as Suleiman, to the presidency.

The long-dormant Parliament is scheduled to convene for the presidential election on September 25. While Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has recently pledged that the chamber would meet, doubts still linger whether opposition politicians will attend without the feuding political factions having agreed on a consensus candidate.

Change and Reform Bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, speaking to New TV on Sunday, said the FPM's position was fixed with the Maronite Patriarchate. "We need a president to extricate Lebanon from the situation we are in and the divisions between both political camps," Kanaan said. He said only a specific "plan, program and vision" could unite the Lebanese with all their contradictions, otherwise Lebanon would only be managing and not resolving its crisis and further dividing the country.

"For these reasons, the Change and Reform Bloc put forward the candidacy of its leader MP Michel Aoun, based on a unifying political platform to bring together both sides of the crisis," Kanaan said, "with the desire to resolve the issue of Hizbullah's weapons within the framework of the memorandum of understanding and to reform the political authority in accordance with a new electoral law."

Justice Minister Charles Rizk, who had been mentioned as a presidential contender in the past, said in a statement on Saturday that Lebanon in the coming six years would have to deal with many pressing issues, and he listed four that would be a priority for any president. He said a new president would have to grapple with the international tribunal to try suspects in the slaying of former Premier Rafik Hariri, the broken political system, security issues and a badly battered economy.

Former President Amin Gemayel, speaking to supporters on Saturday, stressed that the presidential election would take place according to the Constitution and rejected any vacuum in the post. Gemayel said MPs, especially Maronite and Christian legislators, bear responsibility for the presidential election. In a reference to the opposition, he accused those who hinder the presidential election as "conspiring against the Christian presence in Lebanon."

Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt said he doubted that Berri would be able to put forward an initiative to agree on a compromise candidate.

"I have not heard about any real initiative," Jumblatt said during an interview with Radio Monte Carlo over the weekend. "What initiative are they talking about when Iran is sending weapons to [Hizbullah leader Sayyed] Hassan Nasrallah through Syria to serve its own interests, and the price is paid by the Lebanese economy, people and stability?"

Resigned Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish, speaking at a high school graduation ceremony in the South on Sunday, said Lebanon was at a crossroads and the struggle today was not over a government post or seats in the Cabinet, but rather for Lebanon's freedom and right to determine its own future.

"Our struggle is against those who listen to the dictates of a foreign ambassador whose country had a role in prolonging the summer war and which supplied the Israeli enemy with cluster munitions and smart bombs," he said.

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