Al-Rahi Warns of Refugee Timebomb, Urges Politicians to Take Decisions Freely

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called for free politicians who would take bold decisions against hegemony and urged the state to take preventive measures before the influx of refugees from Syria becomes a “timebomb.”

“We need free officials … capable of taking bold and courageous decisions that stand up against hegemony and injustice, and of exerting every effort for the public good,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday sermon.

On the rise in the number of refugees from Syria, al-Rahi said it was “the duty of the Lebanese state to take the necessary preventive measures so that the hosting of the displaced and refugees doesn't become a security, political, social and economic timebomb.”

More than 200,000 Syrian refugees have fled the bloody conflict in their home country for Lebanon, according to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Saturday.

Al-Rahi reiterated his call for the adoption of a fair electoral draft-law that guarantees the best representation for the Lebanese and that allows each citizen to exercise his voting right freely.

The freedom to elect the MPs would give the citizen the right to hold them accountable, he said.

The patriarch urged the different factions “to liberate themselves from their personal and sectarian interests and from the hegemony on others and decision-making.”