Former Premiers Condemn 'Anti-Taef Accord' Remarks

Former premiers Saad Hariri, Najib Miqati, Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam on Wednesday deplored what they called “the remarks against the Taef Accord,” in an apparent response to the recent statement of Shiite mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, the son of Higher Islamic Shiite Council chief Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan.

“The National Pact and the Document of National Accord are an honest, rational and enlightened reflection of the deep-rooted relation between Christians and Muslims, which is based on the nobleness of the unifying idea of coexistence,” the ex-PMs said in statement.

“In this regard, the ex-PMs condemn the remarks that have targeted the Taef Accord, which has become the constitution of the Second Republic and which oversees Lebanon's formula and existence,” they added.

“These dangerous remarks at this historic moment, whether in terms of abolishing (the Lebanese) entity or going to federalism, represent a threat to Lebanese national security,” the ex-PMs cautioned.

They also called for “exerting efforts to strengthen the authority, credibility and full sovereignty of the Lebanese state over its entire territory and institutions instead of weakening it or disavowing its major national experience.”

Qabalan had on Sunday announced that Lebanon's 1943 National Pact has “expired.”

“The country has fallen because its constitution is corrupt, its governance mechanism is corrupt, its sectarianism is corrupt, its political project is corrupt and its various settlements are corrupt,” Qabalan added.

“I openly say: no to Taef, no to the farm of sects, no to the state of shares... Yes to the state of law and yes to the state as a just and strong institution,” he said.