Chidiac Says Bassil Shouldn't be Allowed to Voice Own Stance on Syria Abroad

State Minister for Administrative Development Affairs May Chidiac on Wednesday said that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil should not be allowed to voice his own stances on the Syrian issue when representing Lebanon abroad.

“We cannot accept that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil be allowed to express foreign policy stances at international forums without the presence of consensus on them” in Lebanon, Chidiac said after the meeting of a ministerial panel drafting the new Cabinet's Policy Statement.

“It is not up to us to call for Syria's return to the Arab League, so let us leave this decision to the League, seeing as so far there is no agreement regarding the Syrian state,” the Lebanese Forces minister added.

“We will be outside the government and we won't fulfill this wish to anyone. We will oppose from the inside and we will be the voice of conscience inside the government,” Chidiac went on to say.

Turning to the Policy Statement, the minister said the LF will not accept that its demands be ignored regarding the clause related to resisting Israel.

“We are determined to return the strategic decision to the state because this is a strategic goal for the LF,” she added.

During the meeting, Chidiac had demanded the addition of the phrase “within the state's legitimate institutions” to a clause related to “the right of Lebanese citizens to resist Israel.”