Al-Rahi Calls for Forming Neutral Govt: Unacceptable to Cripple Country over Certain Portfolio
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday returned to Beirut from the Vatican, after participating in the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday.
Flanked by President Michel Suleiman’s representative, caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, al-Rahi told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport that the minister’s latest decision to refrain from participation in the new cabinet reflected his “culture of sacrifice and giving,” lauding Baroud for “putting public welfare above all private interests.”
Asked about the cabinet formation impasse and whether he supported the formation of a “de facto” government, al-Rahi said: “I don’t want to discuss the technicalities of politics, but … if it was difficult to reach a coalition government, nothing prevents the formation of a neutral technocrat cabinet that oversees the interests of the people.”
The patriarch stressed that it was “unacceptable” to cripple citizens’ interests for the sake of “a dispute over a certain portfolio or a certain candidate.”
“This is against all principles and against (good) governance and democracy,” he noted.
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