Bassil calls for president who would 'build state, preserve resistance'
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday called for a new president who would “implement reform, build the state and preserve the resistance.”
“Preserving the resistance should be part of building the state and it should not be stabbed” in the back, Bassil said in a speech.
“We want the state first, and the resistance within it would protect it. They want the resistance first and the state afterwards ... In our opinion, reconciling the two demands is possible if we agree on a president,” Bassil added.
“Lebanon the entity, homeland, state, example and mission is in danger and our existence all as Lebanese will be in danger if we continue to lock horns against each other and to reject dialogue as a way for salvation. In Lebanon there is no parliamentary majority for a single camp and there will never be. We are obliged to engage in dialogue and reach an agreement, and we should stop accusing each other of treason,” the FPM chief went on to say.
Warning that the alternative to dialogue is violence, Bassil emphasized that “no group in Lebanon can annihilate another group.”
“The attempt to isolate the FPM is the best recipe for strengthening it, but its result will be bad for the country, because state building will fail without us. This way we would return to a clear and complete opposition and you would be offering us a service!” the FPM chief added.
Commenting on the controversy related to the government’s delay of daylight saving time, Bassil said: “They want a president who would separate Lebanon from the world, the same as they have separated it from global timing with an arbitrary decision, turning the problem into a sectarian one to conceal the IMF report that condemns them.”
“You will not be able to turn the matter into a sectarian one because you want to run the country the same as you deal with the clock issue, but we will not let you!” the FPM chief added.
Source: Naharnet
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