Aoun: The Syrian Regime Will Not Fall
Any official “who chooses to remain silent over the violations” of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, ISF Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Wissam al-Hassan and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza would be “committing a crime,” Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said Thursday.
“Claims that we have surrendered to Miqati’s wish to keep Rifi, al-Hassan and Mirza in their posts are untrue,” Aoun said in an interview with LBC television.
Asked about Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil’s electricity plan, which was adopted by the government on Wednesday, Aoun said: “When debate ends with unanimity, that means the result belongs to everyone.”
“The only amendment was dividing the funding into four annual installments and everything else stayed the same as initially proposed,” he stressed.
“There had been efforts to fragment the plan and stretch the funding timetable to six years, but the plan remained the same,” Aoun noted.
Criticizing al-Mustaqbal Movement’s stance on the plan, Aoun said “they’re claiming that their wished-for amendments have been adopted, so let them vote in favor of the plan in parliament.”
“The plan will help bring light to Lebanon after 20 years of darkness and the fruitless spending of billions. This is the benefit that is motivating us and, according to a poll by Information International, 67% of the Lebanese support the plan, which means there is unanimity because the remaining 33% are stealing power from the grid and not paying their bills,” the FPM leader added.
He warned that there will be no “independence, resistance or a country if we let corruption aggravate.”
“The finance minister (Mohammed Safadi) was allocated a hefty amount of money without any portioning or supervision. Since 1995, there has been no financial supervision over the Council for Development and Reconstruction. Where is the financial supervision over the Central Fund for the Displaced and the Council for South Lebanon.”
He stressed that the FPM is the only party in the government that has been “abiding by the financial laws,” noting that his political movement will soon suggest “the abolition of funds and the creation of a planning ministry.”
Aoun went on to say that former premier Saad Hariri’s “idleness in the face of problems was the reason behind his ouster, while we are tackling them day after day.”
Lauding Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s latest stance on Syria, Aoun described the patriarch’s position as “new, politically reasonable and falls under a certain strategic perspective concerning the Middle East.”
On Wednesday al-Rahi said “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must be given a chance because he is implementing reforms in Syria.”
“I reassure that the Syrian regime will not fall and will carry on with the reforms,” Aoun said.
“I am with human rights, but would an alternative regime support human rights? When some say they are against pluralistic rule, would they be respecting human rights? There are no demonstrations at the moment, but rather gunmen and security incidents only. When some try to topple the regime through riots, the regime will defend itself and that is its right,” he explained.
Recalling the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Aoun said: “After the U.S. army came to Iraq and Saddam Hussein was executed, what happened to the post-dictatorship Iraq? Did it transit into democracy?”
“We are not calling for a dictatorial regime but rather for a democratic one” in Syria, Aoun noted, but added that the West and some Arab countries “do not want Syria to respect human rights but rather to sever ties with Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran, even if the
“Let those who are attacking the Syrian regime over human rights throw their support behind the Palestinian people instead,” the FPM leader suggested.
“President Assad told me he will endorse political freedoms,” Aoun revealed, stressing that “there can be no reform without security in Syria and the regime won’t surrender in the face of the attempts to destabilize it, no matter the pressures.”
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