Hariri Says 'Disgraceful' to Mark Independence Day without President
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri said on Friday that it was “disgraceful” for Lebanon's Independence Day to be celebrated amid a vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling for the election of a head of state whose priority lies in fighting strife.
“It is disgraceful for Independence Day to come in the absence of a president, who is given by the constitution the honor of oath to preserve the independence and the territorial integrity of the nation,” said Hariri in a statement.
The Lebanese will not be able to enjoy official celebrations on the independence's 71st anniversary on Saturday.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam said there would not be a military parade on Independence Day this year because the country remains without a head of state.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May.
“Independence is meaningless if there is an intention to replace the authority of the (French) mandate with a vacuum in constitutional institutions,” said Hariri.
“The insistence to remain in the circle of vacuum ... means there is an urgency to keep Lebanon divided and lost,” he warned. “This is an insult to the elite of men who made the independence and transformed it into a foundation for the National Pact and coexistence.”
Lebanon received its independence after French troops arrested Lebanese national leaders Beshara al-Khoury, Riad al-Solh, Pierre Gemayel, Camille Chamoun, and Adel Osseiran in Rashaya.
After national and international pressure, the prisoners were released on November 22, 1943 and that day was declared the Lebanese Independence Day.
Hariri reiterated his call for a “roadmap” to preserve Lebanon amid the regional turmoil and to hold consultations to agree on a presidential candidate.
The head of state's priorities should be “the revival of national dialogue, disabling landmines that cause strife and ending the security-military ties with the Syrian war,” he said.
“This roadmap forms the basis for the required stability and the embracing environment for the army and its role in controlling the border in addition to fighting terrorism,” Hariri added.
21 November 2014, 08:13
37
Indeed, without a president elect and our soldiers captive of terrorists, this independence day means nothing.
21 November 2014, 08:30
711
Disgraceful that a political "leader" in Lebanon spends all of his time outside of Lebanon and is a puppet of wahabi terrorists who fund and equip isis, nusra et al.
21 November 2014, 13:42
74
why so? Wasn't he threatened? Was there not a plot to kill him? Remember that Hariri fled in secret from Lebanon as there were high fears on his life.
21 November 2014, 14:06
85
Louti, must be also unhappy court is getting closer to their necks.
21 November 2014, 14:02
85
Your smart assassin freinds are not happy we know that. So what we are happy to see him safe.
21 November 2014, 14:35
84
Why doesn't your rat Nasrallah spend his time above ground? Thought so.
21 November 2014, 22:46
10
He thinks everyone is going to do what he did... he is taking precautions.
21 November 2014, 10:50
114
Lebanese Independence Day is a dirty joke spoken among Hizb ranks.
21 November 2014, 11:21
814
Now let us discuss Lebanon's so called independence after the period of 1943.
After the french withdrawal from Lebanon back in late 1943 the politics in Lebanon was centered among traditional bourgeois families, and the constitution gave the Maronite Christians the upper hand in all spheres of decision making. This power arrangement, however, collapsed during the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war of 1975, and later the Taif agreement of 1989 made slight modifications in this respect. The new political reality gave the Sunni and Shia ruling elites more power at the expense of the Maronites, and this further raised tensions rather then diffusing them. Today this belligerent state is facing mounting contradictions both internally and externally speaking which going forward raises serious concerns as to whether this system in place would survive in the midst of all these storms.
21 November 2014, 12:12
310
what is disgraceful is to have a weak president not a president like the prime minister or head of parliament
21 November 2014, 13:45
103
if you look at taif, you will notice that head of parliament, president and prime minister have the same power. note that the pm has no power by himself, it is the government in its totality that has the executive power and not the prime minister. In the same way, the head of parliament cannot make any decision by himself.
21 November 2014, 13:53
114
independance day = day of the hypocrits...
hypocrisy is the core of lebanese politics with the blessing of the people....
21 November 2014, 15:12
92
Sure..."Dependence day"....will finally the followers of the caporal realize that their "hitler" is an agent...a very obedient agent.
21 November 2014, 16:22
83
If M14 could stop crying for a minute, then we could enjoy some of the festivities. We do not need a President to celebrate this day, all we need to do is pray for Lebanon.
We are still standing, even with all the takfiri/zionist attacks lately.
Thank the army, people and Resistance, for their courageous defence of Lebanon.
21 November 2014, 17:30
42
Stop crying slash, enjoy this day in harmony, in your native country The U.S of A.
21 November 2014, 18:46
61
I love the way you minions, twist my words, to make it fit into your propaganda box.
Lebanon doesn't need a President to stand on it's feet.
That is what I wrote. That you people hail everything, that tries to bring the country to it's knees. Is your problem, the rest of us wont follow you into that void.
Lebanon is free and independent to this day, because of the Resistance intervention in Syria, they managed to keep ISIS and Nusra from conquering Lebanon.
Also thanks to the LAF efforts, they have proven themselves to be a capable army in these dark times. Especially with the M14 stabbing them in the back alongside Justice Minister Rifi.
While we have you pathetic minions living overseas, in Europe/USA spitting on the Resistance, makes no difference.
Lebanon will triumph, and all the traitors will be accounted for.
21 November 2014, 22:11
31
Your lustful wishes, will never happen m11er, you and your Israeli colleagues has been saying this, over and over again.
Incase you haven't noticed, the only ones supporting the army in this battle, is the Resistance. Everybody knows this, and everyone acknowledged this to be true.
So whom do you think the army command will listen to? Some half brain m14'ers stabbing them in the back, or the Resistance that grabbed the LAF hand in time of need?
21 November 2014, 23:07
51
The LAF took care of the virus, that spread inside our borders, the Resistance closed the virus off, so it would'nt spill more takfiri diseases inside Lebanon.
Which is also the reason, why they intervened in Syria, to hold off the takfiris from fully invading Lebanon. The takfiris would've overrun Lebanon, in a matter of days, if this didn't happen.
Look at Iraq and Syria. That is how fast it goes, and Lebanon is a small country remember that.
22 November 2014, 06:47
11
Jabal Mohsen is another matter, they had every right to defend themselves against the takfiris.
