Kataeb Urges Steps to Halt Decline, Calls for Dissociation from Region Crises
The Kataeb Party on Monday expressed grave concern over the security situation in the country, urging steps to quickly halt the deterioration and avoid a return to the atmosphere of the 1975-1990 civil war.
In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party said it “has become worried over the course of the security, political, economic and social situations that the country is embroiled in, amid the absence of a solution to all the current problems.”
The abductions, counter-abductions and road-blocking protests that erupted in the wake of the Islamic State's beheading of a Lebanese soldier “recall to mind the specter of the bygone war,” Kataeb warned.
“This scene is indicative of the critical phase … and requires unified efforts to contain the deterioration before it goes out of control,” the party urged.
It said “the issue of the kidnapped troops is a national cause that concerns entire Lebanon,” calling on the government to “exert all possible efforts to liberate the abductees.”
The party was referring to around 35 soldiers and policemen who were taken hostage at the hands of IS and Nusra Front jihadists during clashes with the army in the Bekaa town of Arsal in early August.
It hailed “the efforts of Prime Minister Tammam Salam and his trip to Qatar to address this case.”
The party called on the political forces to “totally dissociate themselves from the external crises and embark on immunizing the domestic front on the basis of national unity.”
It reiterated the importance of “taking a national decision to elect a president before the parliament's mandate expires,” saying “this election must be capitalized on to stage parliamentary polls in line with the constitutional norms and deadlines.”
Referring to the recent U.S.-led efforts to build a coalition aimed at countering the growing threat of the IS terrorist group, Kataeb called for “benefiting from the regional and international steps that are being taken to help Lebanon confront terrorism.”
It also called for “devising an internationally-backed national plan based on halting the influx of refugees, scheduling the deportation of those whose residence is not justified, and accommodating those eligible in gatherings that would be put under the state's authority.”
Y.R.
M.T.
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