Kataeb Calls for Addressing Reasons Threatening Jobs of Lebanese in Gulf

The Kataeb Party called Monday for ending “reasons and excuses that threaten the jobs and lives of Lebanese citizens working in Gulf states,” as it warned that “keeping the country without a president will paralyze the political system.”

“The party calls for withdrawing all reasons and excuses that threaten the jobs and lives of Lebanese citizens working in Gulf states and deprive them of their active role in the rise and prosperity of these countries,” said Kataeb in a statement issued after its politburo's weekly meeting.

It called on the Lebanese government to “identify the problem in light of the talks that Prime Minister Tammam Salam held with the Emirati officials” and to “inform the parties concerned of their responsibilities.”

On Sunday, several Lebanese deported from the UAE arrived in Beirut after the Gulf state decided to expel at least 70 Lebanese, most of them Shiites. Al-Akhbar newspaper has quoted sources as saying that 120 Lebanese will be deported from the UAE in the upcoming weeks.

In a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday, UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed stressed to Salam that there is no official decision to target Lebanese in the Gulf country.

Hundreds of Lebanese, mostly Shiite Muslims, have been quietly deported from the UAE since 2009. Deportations of Shiites from oil-rich Gulf states rose in 2013 after Hizbullah joined Syrian government forces in Syria's civil war.

Separately, Kataeb said that as parliament begins its ordinary legislative session, there is a need to “make use of every minute and turn its days into an electoral and legislative workshop, which must lead to the election of a president before anything else.”

“It has become evident that the election of a president is more than urgent and necessary and that it is the regulator of sound relations between the constitutional institutions, given the political clash over the powers of cabinet and parliament due to the presidential void,” Kataeb added.

It also warned that “keeping the country without a president will empty and paralyze the political system.”

The country has been without a president since Michel Suleiman's term ended on May 25, 2014. Political disputes and electoral rivalry between Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea have so far prevented the election of a successor.

Y.R.