On Civil War Anniversary, Suleiman Slams Division of Shares and Urges Dialogue on Controversial Issues
President Michel Suleiman urged the country’s politicians to fully implement the Taef Accord lamenting that the constitution was transformed into a mechanism of division of shares.
“We haven’t yet been able to form a modern state that protects itself and watches over the interests of its citizens,” Suleiman told An Nahar daily in remarks published Tuesday on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war.
He regretted that the National Accord reached as part of the Taef Agreement was not fully implemented. “We deliberately distorted the constitutional concepts and transformed them into means of division of shares.”
“Political parties should continue to implement the Taef Accord with all its articles and adopt dialogue as the only means to discuss controversial issues,” Suleiman added.
The president told An Nahar that politicians should work on solving constitutional problems after Lebanon became “solely responsible for its security, policies and economy without any assistance or interference by a foreign side.”
Suleiman reminded politicians that they have a responsibility in implementing the coexistence article in the constitution, stressing that this article unlike what some people think that it is aimed at dividing shares among sects, it urges officials to implement laws and modernize them to form a modern state.
Asked by An Nahar about the formation of the government, Suleiman said: “We should seek to avoid gaps and not to transform the democracy that we enjoy into vacuum and chaos.”
“That’s why we should make an immediate initiative to form the cabinet and … comply with the constitution,” he added.
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