Phalange Party Says a Salvation Govt. Must Endorse Baabda Declaration

The Phalange Party on Monday described Prime Minister Najib Miqati's resignation as “a step in the right direction after a series of political, security and economic setbacks,” calling for “implementing the constitutional mechanism, shortening the caretaker period and forming a national salvation government that leads the country in this critical stage.”

Such a government “must endorse the Baabda Declaration and its stipulations, especially distancing Lebanon from the policies of (regional) axes, as its ministerial Policy Statement,” said a statement issued by the party's politburo after its weekly meeting.

The party underscored the need to “immunize the resignation through halting internal conflicts, especially the unrest in Tripoli, as well as controlling the Lebanese-Syrian border and the crossings and preventing the passage of arms and gunmen in both directions.”

It also called for boosting national immunity through convening the national dialogue table and respecting the parliamentary elections' constitutional deadline and the rotation of power.

Turning to the security situation in violence-hit Tripoli, the party voiced “deep concern over the course of the events in Tripoli,” describing it as an attempt to “create an open-ended security crisis that benefits from the current political vacuum.”

The Phalange Party called on the army to deal firmly with troublemakers and put an end to the disruption of security and the attacks on citizens' lives and properties.

The party also said “the Syrian violations against Lebanese border areas must be granted full national attention, something the resigned government had failed to approach according to the requirements of national sovereignty.”

It called on President Michel Suleiman to conduct urgent international contacts in order to “deter Syria from continuing its territorial and aerial aggression, even if the issue requires filing a complaint with the U.N. Security Council.”