Kataeb Warns against Shift from 'Rule of Law' to 'Rule of Strongest'

The Kataeb Party on Monday warned against what it called “moving from the rule of law to the rule of the strongest.”

In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party said it rejects any attempt to “impose a president forcibly or to put preconditions on the democratic process,” urging “commitment to the democratic mechanism” and “the election of a president without any restrictions or conditions.”

“There is an attempt to seize power through overlooking norms and resorting to the force of arms, obstruction, intimidation on the streets, and coaxing with side deals,” Kataeb warned.

And calling for “uniting in the face of the attempt to usurp the country and its institutions,” the party urged resisting “the violation of the Constitution and democracy to prevent a fall into chaos and a shift from the rule of law to the rule of the strongest.”

Ex-PM Saad Hariri's recent return to Lebanon has triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility that the former premier has finally decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in a bid to break the deadlock.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.