Geagea Criticizes 'Attacks' against Suleiman: He Struggled for Complete Sovereignty
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lamented on Saturday that outgoing president Michel Suleiman was being attacked while he tried to restore the state's sovereignty, linking also the deteriorating living conditions in the country to the presence of an armed statelet.
"Suleiman said the army must be the only serious force in the country and that sovereignty cannot be detracted, and that's why he was attacked,” Geagea said in a speech he gave during a LF event in Maarab.
“I lament that the president who struggled to pave way for complete sovereignty in the country was attacked,” he expressed.
Geagea's speech came only hours after Suleiman left the Baabda Palace for good as president of the Republic, before the end of his mandate at midnight Saturday.
In his farewell speech, the head of the state pointed out that “liberation remains partial if the state's sovereignty wasn't complete.”
Suleiman's statement came on the eve of the Liberation Day, which commemorates the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the south on May 25, 2000.
In a related matter, Geagea tackled the “deteriorating” living conditions in the country, and stated that these are caused by the (lasting) “culture of the (Syrian) occupation phase which are based on political elimination and on employing unqualified people in the wrong post.”
He added: “These tough conditions are also caused by the presence of an armed statelet inside the country, which is working on limiting the state's influence, weakening its power and place on the international scene, and preventing any reform.”
“The statelet deprived the state's treasury of important revenues and is a real danger to its economy,” he remarked.
“I wish those disruptive forces would stop obstructing work in the state and employ their potentials to support it instead. Then we will collaborate together to deal with the difficult economic and social conditions that are felt by all Lebanese people,” the LF leader said.
S.D.B.
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