BEIRUT: Controversial north Lebanon MP Khaled Daher decried the state for what he alleged to be a policy of deprivation targeting the district of Akkar.
“The policy of deprivation being practiced is a part of the suffering of the people of the area,” Daher told reporters at a book signing Sunday in Halba, north Lebanon, adding that this has been a long-standing policy practiced “by a number of governments."
According to Daher, area residents remain loyal to the state despite facing injustices.
The policy of deprivation, Daher added, ensued during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. The policy then continued in the 1990s and 2000s under late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He claimed that Hariri was “banned from visiting Akkar and was banned from cooperating with many of its leaders,” without elaborating.
But despite that, the region remained loyal to the late premier, and in turn, remains committed to supporting his son, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri.
“We are with Hariri’s political rhetoric and we support nation building,” Daher said.
With regards to the extension of parliament’s mandate which was secured by a 95-2 vote last week, Daher said that he had initially opposed extension. However, the MP voted in favor of extension, saying that he would not run the risk of driving the country towards a constitutional conference that would alter Lebanon’s power sharing formulas as a result of an institutional void.
Daher also called on religious and political figures to be wary of the fact that hundreds of individuals detained during raids in north Lebanon actually have nothing to do with clashes that rocked the area late last month. This is a very dangerous issue and if left unresolved it would lead to a replication of the clashes, he added.
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