Bassil: A Weak President in a Strong Post Weakens the Country
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil said Sunday that a strong president is the one who has the support of the people, rejecting any attempt to “weaken” Lebanon.
“The powerful president is strong through his people and nation,” said Bassil during the launching of the second phase of the Janna dam construction in Kesrouan district, northeast of Beirut.
The president “can't be weak so that he doesn't become dominated by others,” he said.
“When we bring to top posts weak people, we would weaken the entire country … The country will be strong when the president is strong,” he said.
“We are the symbol of strength in Lebanon,” Bassil said in an apparent reference to the Free Patriotic Movement, whose leader is MP Michel Aoun, his father-in-law.
Aoun hasn't yet announced his candidacy for the presidency but he has been locked in a war of words with his rival Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, who was the first to call for a “strong” president in the country.
Geagea has said that the new head of state should be able to implement a certain political program and plan. He hasn't either confirmed whether he would run for the top post.
“Lies will not emerge victorious,” Bassil said during Sunday's ceremony, adding that a former prime minister had asked for the postponement of the dam project until after “the energy minister was gone.”
The project on Nahr Ibrahim is part of a plan to build dams around the country to cut down on water and electrical shortages.
Bassil launched the first phase of work in Nahr Ibrahim valley in March.
He said Sunday that it was the seventh dam being built in Lebanon this year.
“Lebanon's water resources make Lebanon a need for the region's countries,” Bassil said.
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