Suleiman Discloses How All Parties Agreed on Baabda Declaration, Vows to Refuse Term Extension

President Michel Suleiman noted Thursday that "those who are currently objecting" against the Baabda Declaration "will start calling for its implementation in the future,” stressing that he would leave office even if the presidential vote was not held on time.

“Believe me, those who are currently objecting against the Declaration will start calling for its implementation later on,” Suleiman said in an interview with the al-Nashra magazine that is published by the Beirut Bar Association.

The president noted that the Baabda Declaration was endorsed “after some fighters headed from northern Lebanon to Syria,” adding that “the army commander was asked during a cabinet session to prevent the smuggling of any arms and arrest any gunman even if that required force … and everyone agreed on that.”

“But afterwards, some parties announced that they do not approve of this Declaration and some parties even claimed that it was not discussed around the dialogue table,” Suleiman lamented.

The president, however, pointed out that “the dialogue session was fully audio-recorded and that includes the statements of everyone who took part in it,” revealing that all parties had suggested “verbal” and “political” amendments during the meeting.

“The Declaration was then adopted and it was endorsed by the international community before we heard remarks that 'we are still discussing the Baabda Declaration',” Suleiman added.

"Four hours and 20 minutes into the meeting, Speaker Nabih Berri recited the resolutions and the amendments, and despite all this, it is being said that the Declaration was not discussed and that the paper was only distributed to the conferees," Suleiman complained.

The Baabda Declaration was issued in June 2012 following a national dialogue session and it calls for neutralizing Lebanon from the policies of regional axes except for issues related to Arab consensus and the Palestinian cause.

Turning to the issue of the upcoming presidential vote, Suleiman said: “The presidency did not start with me and it will not end with my departure and I refuse to consider as a democratic act any attempt to prevent quorum" needed in parliament to elect a new president.

“My ambition at the end of this term of office is to deliver the departure speech and I have given the decision to start preparing it here at the Baabda Palace, in order to hand over the post to a normally elected president,” Suleiman added.

“If, God forbid, the elections do not take place, there will also be a departure speech,” the president announced.

Separately, the president called for “implementing the Taef Accord before demanding to change it,” expecting “a period of stability in Lebanon and the region when the storm ends in Syria.”