Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai confirmed after his meeting with President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, at Baabda Palace on Monday that “There is no basic justification for not forming a government in light of the current situation”.
The Maronite Patriarch pointed out that the government is the backbone of the state, and it is not permissible to be absent in these days, as more than half of the Lebanese people have become poor, stressing that Lebanon cannot be a gateway for smuggling which loses its civilized face.
The Patriarch arrived at Baabda Palace at nine o’clock in the morning, where President Aoun received him for an hour and a half, during which general affairs and latest developments were tackled.
Patriarch Rahi stated after the meeting, “Today I was honored to meet the President of the Republic, and I came to thank him for his visit to congratulate the occasion of the glorious Easter holiday, and we in turn today congratulate the Orthodox Easter. During the meeting, the main issue was discussed, which is the need to form a government, and to overcome the difficulties facing this composition, because there is no basic justification for not forming a government in light of the current situation. ”
According to Patriarch Rahi, the meeting also tackled the the judiciary and its independence and the issue of smuggling commodities from Lebanon into foreign countries.
SSNP Delegation
President Aoun received a delegation from the Syrian Social National Party, which included: Rabih Banat, Amer Al-Tal, Rabie Zain Al-Din, Hussam Al-Asrawi, Hassan Saqr, Firas Al-Shoufi, Dr. Emile Al-Akra, and Fahd Al-Basha.
The meeting addressed the general situation in the country and recent developments, where Mr. Banat stressed the difficulty of the economic crisis and its negative repercussions on the living conditions, calling for the formation of a new government as soon as possible to lift the paralysis of political life in the country.
Banat expressed the party’s appreciation for the efforts made by President Aoun to extricate Lebanon from its crisis, supporting his position on forensic audit and combating corruption, and the initiative launched by President Aoun to establish an economic market among the countries of the Arab Mashreq because it opens new horizons for the Lebanese economy and the door for cooperation in all fields.
For his part, the President welcomed the delegation and pointed out that a set of factors have doubled the existing economic crisis, including the Syrian crisis, the displacement of Syrians, in addition to the Corona virus, the port explosion, the approved financial policy, and finally the locust crisis.
President Aoun also warned that incitement in crises increases their intensity, and that it is dangerous to hold those who have nothing to do with corruption and waste, which diverts attention from the real perpetrators, stressing the need for the Lebanese to be one hand to extricate Lebanon from the current crisis.
Source: NNA
