Bassil Backs 'Secular Syria', Says Lebanon Sects Want to Protect Privileges
Free Patriotic Movement chief and caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced Tuesday that “stability in Syria and the endurance of the secular/non-theological state in it are in Lebanon's interest.”
Bassil voiced his remarks during a political seminar at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he represented Lebanon in the absence of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri who canceled his participation to follow up on the renewed drive to form a new government in Lebanon.
“Our model may not be the most successful, but it has persevered in the face of the models of terrorism and unilateralism: Daesh and Israel,” Bassil said, referring to Lebanon and its confessional political system.
“We realize that managing diversity and fulfilling consensual democracy are difficult in a country consisted of 18 sects, and that it is not easy to achieve balanced partnerships between the presidencies, the parliament, the government and state administrations, but when we reach consensus, stability would prevail,” the minister added.
“It is normal for each sect to seek to preserve its jurisdiction,” Bassil went on to say.
He also noted that Christians in Lebanon “enjoy a strong political, social and economic presence within the principle of partnership and coexistence with Muslims.”
Source: Naharnet
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