The head of the Maronite church, Bechara al-Rai, celebrates a mass. (Credit: NNA)
The head of the Maronite Church Bechara al-Rai on Saturday called on President Michel Aoun to take “new initiatives” in order to “protect the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon” and not to legitimize that which “harms the unity of the state.”
In his homily on the occasion of the Christmas mass in Bkerki, the patriarch, once again pleaded for the resumption of government work, saying that “linking the fate of the cabinet to the position of one party is a violation of the constitution.”
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet has not met since Oct. 12 over disagreement among its members about the future of the investigation into the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Amal and Hezbollah are calling for Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the investigation, to be removed from the probe, or at least from its political aspect.
Pending a solution to this political crisis, Mikati is refusing to call his cabinet to session for fear it will implode.
A political deal that had been brewing between the various actors in recent days, linking the fate of the government to that of Bitar, judicial appointments and the parliamentary elections in the spring of 2022, has finally failed.
“Linking the fate of the government to the position of a political party is a violation of the constitution, a breach of the Taif Agreement and a distortion of the National Pact,” Rai said Saturday.
The prelate once again called on the government to resume its meetings, saying that “a distinction must be made between an agreement between different parties on causes that concern the nation, and the imposition by some of a unilateral will” that has an impact on the constitutional institutions and the Lebanese.
The role of Hezbollah
In this context, Rai asked the president to “find ways to free the state from people who take it hostage.” He also called on him to take “new initiatives, including the adoption of the project of Lebanon's neutrality” in order to “protect the independence and sovereignty” of the country.
Rai went on to tell the president, “we support you so that you remove the legitimacy of everything that harms the unity of the state, the national partnership, the democratic system, the role of the Lebanese army and the work of the judiciary, and everything that prevents respect for the constitution and international resolutions.”
Rai did not name Hezbollah in his comments, but the party remains the only one still armed in Lebanon, and its involvement in regional conflicts, notably in Syria and Yemen, is regularly denounced as an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
Speaking about the legislative elections scheduled for 2022, the head of the Maronite church once again stressed the need for them to be held “within the constitutional timeframe” so that the presidential elections, scheduled for October 2022, can also take place on time.
Contrary to the wishes of the presidency and its camp, the amendments to the electoral law (approved in October by Parliament), which provided for bringing forward the vote from May to March 2022, remain enforceable, despite an appeal submitted to the Constitutional Council by the Aounist deputies. The vote should therefore theoretically take place on March 27. It remains likely however that that date won’t stand, as Aoun has threatened to refrain from signing the decree convening the electoral college before the deadline, which is set three months ahead of the polls.
Aoun spoke for about half an hour with the Maronite prelate before Christmas mass and refrained from answering questions from journalists, saying he will deliver a speech Monday.
The newspaper al-Anba', citing information from the presidency, believes that this speech could be virulent towards the various political groups, including Hezbollah.
A ‘stuck’ country
For his part, the Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox church, Elias Audi, said Saturday that “the country is stuck between a government whose work is suspended and an investigation that powerful parties are trying to block so that the truth is not revealed.”
More than a year after the tragedy of Aug. 4, 2020, the investigation has still not progressed because of political interference in the work of Bitar. The judge was forced for the fourth time last Thursday to suspend his investigation following yet another appeal filed against him by former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter.
This article was originally published in French by L'Orient-Le Jour.
