Gemayel Rejects 'Constituent Assembly', Says Hizbullah Must Let Army Lead Anti-Terror Fight
Two days after he was elected president of the Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel on Tuesday announced that he does not support calls for holding a so-called constituent assembly that would drastically change the Lebanese political system.
“The Lebanese must admit that they have failed to manage their diversity, and a new mechanism is needed,” Gemayel acknowledged during an interview on LBCI television.
But he stressed that Kataeb wants to preserve the 1943 National Pact and the country's borders.
The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the basis for the political system in the country, which is based on sectarian distribution of power.
“We don't want to reinvent Lebanon through a so-called constituent assembly. We want to improve the political system,” Gemayel clarified.
The presidency, the country's top Christian post, has been vacant since president Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure ended in May 2014. The rival MPs have been unable to elect a successor since then.
The presidential void has started to have a negative effect on the work of parliament and cabinet as well as security and military institutions.
Turning to Lebanon's confrontation with the Syria-based extremist groups, Gemayel noted that “the takfiri ideology poses a threat to the region and Lebanon.”
But he underlined that the Lebanese army is capable of “repelling any terrorist attack on the border.”
“We ask Hizbullah to place its decisions in the hand of the Lebanese state as a first step. We are realistic and we believe that the problem of Hizbullah's weapons cannot be solved with the push of a button,” Gemayel added.
“Hizbullah must leave the military decision to the Lebanese army, especially in the face of the takfiris,” he pointed out.
Gemayel also emphasized that Lebanese “unity” is needed in the anti-terror fight, noting that Hizbullah can't fight jihadist groups through a “sectarian” approach.
Y.R.
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