Geagea: Hizbullah and Syria Want to Form a Cabinet that Reflects their Image

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea blasted Hizbullah on Thursday for allegedly targeting the country’s democracy saying Lebanon’s problems would not be solved without a solution to the Shiite party’s arms.

“We are living today in a state of emergency and have a problem given the presence of an armed party” that cripples “democratic work,” Geagea told a visiting delegation from the Popular University in Batroun.

Reciting the kidnapping of the seven Estonian tourists, the bombing of the church in Zahle and the building of thousands of illegal buildings on state property, Geagea said: “As if we are living in another state whose laws and systems differ from ours.”

“After we were done with the problem of the Syrian presence in Lebanon in 2005, we faced another problem which is the existence of Hizbullah in this form,” he lamented. “We can’t go about solving our problems and dealing with our issues unless we find a solution to this matter.”

Geagea accused Hizbullah and its backer Syria of seeking to form a new cabinet that reflects their own image while President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Najib Miqati want a government that reflects the Lebanese fabric.

“But there are new developments on the level of the formation (of the cabinet) which we’re not sure if they will lead to a certain result,” he said. “If they were able to form the cabinet, how would it be? Will it be able to take decisions so that it survives?” he wondered.

He called for adopting a wait-and-see approach amid the developments in the region.

The LF leader described the latest upheaval in the Arab world as “very serious,” insisting however, that western countries have no plan to “divide” the region.

The revolutions in Arab countries are the result of the peoples’ willingness to live decent lives and enjoy freedom, he told his visitors.