Al-Rahi Criticizes Officials for Failing to Agree on Electoral Law after '4 Years of Research'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged officials to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law that would offer fair representation for all sides, reported the National News Agency Saturday.
He said during his ongoing trip to Brazil: “It is unacceptable that after four years of discussions that officials failed to agree on a vote law.”
“Bkirki supports any law that enjoys the consensus of the Lebanese powers, maintains national principles, and serves society,” he added.
He continued: “Lebanon is passing through a very critical phase and we must work hard to form a new government that would assume its responsibilities because a third of the population is living in poverty, immigration has increased, the number of Syrian refugees is growing, and the Lebanese people are divided over the Syrian war.”
“Lebanon's value lies in its diversity and we refuse to be ruled by a single party or ideology,” al-Rahi declared.
He therefore called on officials to assume their responsibilities and refrain from “manipulating” Lebanon's fate.
“It is unacceptable that Lebanon be dragged into regional and international wars and axes,” said the patriarch.
“Lebanon has never supported war and we refuse to have it as a source of war. We also refuse to have it as a passage for weapons,” he stressed.
04 May 2013, 21:10
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His Holiness said, "I even hear rumors that there are more Muslims than there are Christians in Lebanon. This is the kind of information that we need to conduct research into means of avoiding finding it out. For instance, if US activist Noam Chomsky is right when he says that there are more Shias in Lebanon than all other sectarians combined, this is definitely the kind of information that we need to think seriously of finding new and effective ways of coming to a real understanding of in devising electoral laws that make it impossible for such information to make any real difference."
