Maronite Bishops: Any Govt. Not Formed by Lebanese Powers is Aimed at Dividing Country
The Maronite Bishops Council lamented on Wednesday the Lebanese powers' failure to form a new government, criticizing their reliance on foreign powers and developments.
It said in a statement after its monthly meeting chaired by Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi: “Any government that is not strictly formed by Lebanese forced is aimed at dividing the country.”
The Lebanese factions should place Lebanese interests above all else and they should all abandon the preconditions they have placed on forming a cabinet, demanded the bishops.
In addition, they welcomed the security forces' deployment in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh last week, saying that it helped in curbing the phenomenon of autonomous security in Lebanon.
Addressing the ongoing flow of Syrian refugees into Lebanon and their impact on Lebanon, it said: “A national stand is needed to tackle this issue.”
“We call on all Lebanese sides to remain neutral from the Syrian crisis and instead work for a political solution to the unrest,” it demanded.
“We welcome international efforts to steer Lebanon away from regional developments, especially the unrest in Syria,” it continued.
The bishops also hailed President Michel Suleiman's efforts to keep Lebanon away from the crisis in Syria.
The United Nations warned last week that Lebanon faces an explosion of social tensions unless the international community helps to handle hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
While in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly last week, Suleiman told foreign ministers from the world's leading nations that his country faces an "existential crisis" because of the influx fleeing the war between President Bashar Assad and opposition rebels.
He told the International Support Group for Lebanon that major financing was needed to pay for the refugees, reinforce public services because of the burden and bolster the army.
The Syria conflict will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion from 2012 to 2014, according to an estimate given by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to the meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
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