Former PMs will boycott Baabda meeting: Without horizon and a waste of time
Monday, Jun 22, 2020
NNA - Former Prime Ministers Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora, Saad Hariri and Tammam Salam held a meeting this afternoon at the Center House.
At the end of the meeting, Former PM Siniora delivered the following statement:
“We received an invitation from His Excellency President General Michel Aoun to attend a meeting at the Presidential Palace next Thursday. We never failed to respond positively to such invitations, and we often overlooked many sensitivities and formalities to respond to the requirements of national interest.
But this invitation today, and its declared aim, seem out of place in form and content. Is a waste of time, at a moment when the country needs different approaches to pull it out of the acute crisis that it is facing, to restore the confidence of citizens and reassure them about the future. This should be done by emphasizing the respect of Taif, the constitution and the unified national decision, by controlling the borders, by ensuring the independence of the judiciary through a publication of the judicial appointments decided by the Supreme Judicial Council instead of harming the principle of separation of powers, by stopping false interpretations of texts to invent concepts that are outside the provisions of the constitution and the law, or searching for gaps that do not exist to destroy the national balance and disassociation that the Lebanese drafted in the "Taif Agreement".
The real threat to stability may come from the deteriorating economic and financial situation the country has reached, which contributed to the delay in initiating reform from the part of those in position of responsibility, who do not have an agenda to protect civil peace from social explosion. This cannot be solved by large meetings that do not have a clear agenda, but rather by getting out of the state of confusion and complaining, by ceasing to blame others, and by embarking on reforms that restore confidence and save the economy and the national currency according to a serious plan of action that convinces the Lebanese, the international bodies and the donors.
The performance of the government in the past months (the electricity file, in particular the issue of Selaata, circumventing the Appointment Mechanism Law passed by Parliament, the selective fight against smuggling and the confusion in dealing with exchange rates or the government's failure to develop a unified study and plan for reform) indicates a blatant inability to make the country meet the serious challenges and be at the level of the current serious events. This can only be done by a program that draws a clear road map that includes a unified stance on the issues that led to the political, financial, economic and social collapse, and to the security and military exposure, and a program that corrects options and paths, launches reforms, restores Lebanon to its place and position, so it reconciles with its Arab environment and regains the world's confidence.
We do not find in the meeting a serious opportunity to revive the table of a national dialogue that leads to serious decisions that settle Lebanon's position as a free, independent and sovereign State that belongs to its Arab surrounding, and restores the best relations with it.
We agree with what Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai said yesterday and salute his national positions.
Our non-participation in this meeting is a clear objection to the inability of this authority to devise solutions that can save Lebanon with all its components. Today, Lebanon is threatened by a complete collapse that affects especially the middle class, that was always the backbone and the true lever of Lebanese society.
While we are aware of the criticality of the stage, we invite everyone to a rapid move to stimulate productive energies with all its economic, labor, union and civil components. In order to return to the fundamentals and defend:
1- The respect and implementation of the Lebanese constitution.
2- The approval of a reform plan and program that is clear and convincing economically and financially.
3- The respect of the decisions of the Arab and international legitimacies.
4- The respect of the social commitment to disassociation.
5- The integration with the Lebanese interest system in the relationship with the Arab world.
We express our deep regret of not participating in the meeting called for by His Excellency the President, as a clear protest message against the inability of this authority to devise solutions that can save Lebanon with all its components. And based on our national position and our respect for the minds and aspirations of the Lebanese, we announce our unwillingness to participate in a meeting without a horizon. May God help Lebanon and its people”.
Question: With this stance, you are removing the Sunni legitimacy from this table, as if you cut off the path to dialogue?
Answer: Our stance is always national and will continue to be so.
