BEIRUT: A Lebanese Forces MP Friday launched a scathing attack against Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai for comments he made about the presidential stalemate, saying the March 8 group was to blame for the continued vacuum.
“How could you, Patriarch Rai, generalize, and say that all of us are responsible for the paralysis? How could you allow yourself, given what you represent, not differentiate between those disrupting the Constitution and others who are committed to it?” MP Antoine Zahra said in a statement.
“The March 14 coalition has a candidate who has a clear agenda and is committed to applying the Constitution. He has also said that he would abandon his nomination to discuss the possibility of a consensus candidate.”
“How then could you equate us with the other group whose candidate is still unknown? They're the ones boycotting parliamentary sessions and refusing any consensus or agreement.”
The Maronite patriarch said late Thursday in Washington that the political class as a whole was to blame for the inability of Parliament to elect a new president, saying that the March 8 and the March 14 coalitions could no longer continue "on two separate paths."
Zahra said Rai should refrain from making such remarks if he had no intention of supporting or opposing one group over the other.
“As for him saying that March 8 and March 14 should not continue on different paths, I will allow myself to ask you this: What do you want us to do? To carry arms and join the Resistance Brigades? You want us to fight in Syria? You want us to boycott parliamentary sessions to elect a president?”
"You want us to attack you and call you a traitor for vising the Holy Land? You want us to disrupt the work of institutions, block roads and kidnap people?”
The lawmaker defended the March 14 coalition, saying the group, particularly LF Leader Samir Geagea, had proposed several solutions to end the presidential crisis.
“The issue is not personal ... it is a matter of political choices,” Zahra said.
“Your remarks confuse people and contradict the truth. Lebanon is facing two political agendas, and you implicitly support one of these agendas.”
“If you could convince March 8 to abandon their agenda, then we would welcome such a move. Until then, we hope you can convince them to attend parliamentary sessions.”
Some March 8 MPs have boycotted 10 parliamentary sessions to elect a new president, arguing that the meetings were futile unless rival parties agreed on a consensus candidate.
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