Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday said Lebanon needs “a new mentality, a new vision and a democratic rhetoric,” stressing that “we will not allow anyone to determine our fate.”
“Those who came before us had paid a heavy price throughout the consecutive and long stages,” al-Rahi added during a meeting with MP Samer Saade, MP Boutros Harb’s representative George Harb and a number of political figures on the second day of his pastoral visit to the northern region of Batroun.
“Lebanon is a factor of stability,” the patriarch stressed.
He also noted that Lebanon is “divided between the March 8 and March 14” rival political camps, calling for a new “social contract based on our (1943) National Pact” -- an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state.
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