March 14 Lauds Suleiman's 'Sovereign' Stands: Lebanon in Need of New Govt., Not Dialogue
The March 14 General Secretariat hailed on Wednesday President Michel Suleiman's “sovereign” positions during the current political crisis, renewing its call for the resignation of the government and formation of a neutral one.
It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “All powers must now and always adhere to the state and national interests, instead of resorting to dialogue.”
It has been demonstrated that political forces approached the dialogue with conflicting agendas and “such a dialogue will only reproduce a government that adheres to the equation of the army, people, and resistance,” noted the General Secretariat.
“Such a cabinet covers for the killing machine, ensures impunity, and is subject to the Iranian-Syrian axis,” it added.
The March 14-led opposition announced its boycott of government-related work, including the national dialogue, in the wake of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.
He was killed in a car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district on October 19.
The opposition blamed Syria for the crime and accused the government, which is comprised of mainly pro-Syria allies, of covering up for the murder.
It has therefore demanded the resignation of the current government and the formation of a neutral one.
“The new cabinet should not be comprised of members of the March 8 and 14 camps, but officials who will not run in the 2013 parliamentary elections,” explained the General Secretariat.
“The government must work on extracting Lebanon from the state of despair, crime, bloody incidents, and social crises and transporting it to a normal one,” it stressed.
“It must also work on completing all preparations for the parliamentary elections to ensure that they will be held on time,” it said.
“Fears that the toppling of the government will create a power vacuum in Lebanon are unjustified,” it remarked.
Moreover, it noted that French President Francois Hollande's recent visit to Lebanon is a “strong sign that the desired stability and the current government cannot coexist.”
Hollande paid a brief visit to Lebanon on Sunday where he only met President Michel Suleiman.
“The March 14 forces are determined to continue on pressuring the government, through peaceful means in Beirut and Tripoli, until its demands are met,” declared the General Secretariat.
It added that its boycott will consequently continue.
It said that the people are entitled to demand security, financial, economic, and social stability, but they are being obstructed by not only Hizbullah's arms, but the government “that has done nothing but aggravate the people's problems.”
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