Suleiman on USJ Incident: Simplest Rules of Democracy Oblige Everyone to Accept Vote Results
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
President Michel Suleiman on Monday stressed that “the simplest rules of democracy oblige everyone to acknowledge and accept the results” of elections, following a standoff between rival students at Universite Saint Joseph in Beirut.
Suleiman held phone talks with caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Army chief General Jean Qahwaji, USJ president Father Salim Daccache and security officials to inquire about the incident, the National News Agency reported.
The president said the democratic spirit must prevail “instead of denial, defiance, questioning the winner's victory and provoking the defeated.”
He called on students to “practice democracy and engage in democratic electoral competition which are aimed at improving their situations,” underlining that “elections at universities must remain an example for what democracy should be like in our country.”
Earlier on Monday, tensions surged at the USJ-Huvelin campus in Beirut as Hizbullah supporters protested against recent student elections results, according to MTV.
It said that the supporters surrounded the campus in protest, sparking tensions between them and the March 14 students. The army soon intervened however averting any clash between the rival camps.
The student elections were held at USJ last week.
An alliance between the Lebanese Forces and March 14 forces won the majority of seats at three of the campus' four faculties, while independent students swept the last faculty.
Phalange bloc MP Sami Gemayel later revealed during a press conference that the standoff began when Hizbullah supporters at the campus painted graffiti hailing Habib al-Shartouni, who was convicted of the assassination of former President Bashir Gemayel in 1982.
26 November 2013, 19:41
01
nothing to do with arms, read the full story here
http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/844395/a-lusj-une-demonstration-des-perversions-de-la-violence.html
clearly they did not "surround" the campus, and it was not about "rejecting" the results.
provocations started by the m14 supporters, taunting the m8 and telling them things like they had to "keep their heads low" because they lost. provocations escalated from both sides. anyone pinning it entirely on one side would be biased and dishonest.
25 November 2013, 20:05
43
It is really sad that people attending university think and act the same way as uneducated people living off the streets. The worst thing is that USJ, once a prestigious university, lost much of its reputation and is becoming a garbage where politicians fight for influence.
25 November 2013, 21:45
63
USJ WAS the only good university in Lebanon.... the AUB and LAU/BUC are based on some low ranked american colleges.
25 November 2013, 20:06
27
What u say don't apply to loads of lebanese whose vote is sectarian.
Ethno-mathematic like the africanist Bernard Lugan calls it, u vote for ur ethnic group/confession... That's why demographics count so much in this country.
25 November 2013, 20:14
75
this filthy extremist terrorist Iranian militia iss becoming more desperate by the day :)
they really do not know what to do anymore :)
the only thing they know is intimidation, and that is not working anymore :)
25 November 2013, 21:00
73
There is unfinished business on the table, perhaps the time has come to take arms!
25 November 2013, 21:08
44
The president said the democratic spirit must prevail “instead of denial, defiance, questioning the winner's victory and provoking the defeated.”
Precisely what those of us opposed to HA have been saying all along. HA's way is anything but democratic. They lost the 2009 election and cried foul claiming the popular vote is with them. They accept nothing democratic unless it goes their way. Such minds are destined for the dustbin of history joining similar ones like Stalinism, Nazizm and Ba'athism.
Enough said.
25 November 2013, 21:44
73
Can anyone explain to me where Lebanese Chias come from? I mean historically. They certainly havent accomplished anything for their religion unlike Saladin the Ayoubi some 900 years ago, a Kurdish SUNNI who saved Islam.
So where do these chia trolls come from?
25 November 2013, 21:46
74
yalla ya ibnaljabal, let's no more tolerate the intolerable !
Aux armes citoyens! Yes Prime!
25 November 2013, 23:31
44
Dear Benzona I do not believe that Saladin achieved much for the Arabs or for Islam. He used the wars against the crusades for the sole benefit of extending his power. He built no institutions nor strong government organization that can outlast him. After he died his political and armed heritage collapsed.
26 November 2013, 00:30
21
He knows and he agrees with you .... but unfortunately he is incapable of doing anything about it with destroying Lebanon. He is a decent human being surrounded by armed wolves.
26 November 2013, 03:03
21
When we use a name like "HA" we loose the real name "Hizbil_Shaytan" or Gizb_Iran" I like us not to loose the real identity of such terrorist group equal or worst than al-qaida.
26 November 2013, 11:44
02
a free brave man cannot be bought nor threatened
money and arms are the enemies of democracy ,money can buy you and bullet can subdue you
unfortunately majority of Lebanese are either bought by money or threatened by arms
and only few are free
god bless Lebanon
may the arab spring blossom in the desert gulf
