Aoun: Arab Events a Leap Backwards, Fundamentalists to Assume Power
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Friday described the progress of the so-called Arab Spring as a “leap backwards,” warning that “some movements will install new dictatorships when they assume power.”
“The events in the Arab countries are a leap backwards and the real revolution happens in one’s own mind and against obsolete traditions,” Aoun said in an interview on Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television.
“Democracy cannot be created suddenly; it is rather a culture and an ability to live freely without crossing the limits of this freedom,” Aoun noted.
“The upcoming regimes will not be new and I foresee the rise of (Islamic) fundamentalism to power, the same as I had predicted 17 years ago,” he said.
Aoun stressed that he was not calling on the Christians of Lebanon and the region to isolate themselves or stand by idly amid the rapid developments.
“The Christians in the Orient are the children of this land and they have existed here before Islam. I’m not calling for neutralism, but rather for participation,” he clarified.
“The Christians should be at the core of the events and must choose what’s best for them. There are Christian dissidents in Syria, but the majority supports the regime’s reforms,” Aoun added.
He described the Syrian society as “among the most socially liberal Arab societies,” reassuring that “democracy will come to Syria.”
Voicing concerns over the repercussions of a possible rise to power by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, Aoun said: “The Islamists in (northern Lebanese city of) Tripoli do not acknowledge any borders and they are waiting for the Islamic revolution to sweep Beirut.”
“I’m calling for democracy and this is what the Syrian president (Bashar al-Assad) is seeking by forming reform committees,” he declared.
“I’m with the revolutions if the outcome is positive … but I’m against them if the outcome will be negative.”
The FPM leader described Syria as “the Orient’s beating heart.”
Syria “has persevered because its people are united as they seek reform and stability and reject violence,” said Aoun.
“It is the only state whose army has stood in the face of the Israeli-imposed solutions. They have unsuccessfully tried to create ‘many Benghazis.’ Haven’t you paid attention to the international developments accompanying the events in Syria? Syria is steadfast and we won’t allow any spark of a civil war in Lebanon, such as (the clashes of) Nahr al-Bared and May 7” he added.
Addressing the domestic situations in Lebanon, Aoun said Premier Najib Miqati has “turned a blind eye to all the violators belonging to his sect.”
“We might become anyone’s rivals” over corruption, Aoun pledged.
“We’re not in agreement with the premier over the scientific standards, so how would we agree on other issues?”
“I’m not targeting Miqati, he’s the one targeting me. I’m telling him about the wrongdoings and he’s not addressing them. How does he want to gain popularity? By protecting violations?” Aoun went on to say.
“I have called for holding accountable those who are illegally assuming certain positions and I have called for the sacking of others who are facing lawsuits. Let them win the cases and return to power,” Aoun explained.
On the relation with Druze leader Walid Jumblat, which is growing increasingly tense over mutual accusations of corruption, Aoun said: “Let he (Jumblat) announce our misdemeanors. We have been submitting bills and documents. We have been exposing the hotbeds of corruption.”
Asked about the controversial issue of financing the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Aoun said that “the premiers and the ministers who had financed the STL in the past should be referred to the judiciary.”
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/18836 |