Saniora: Electing President prevents Renewed Civil War

by **Admin** Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:26 am

Premier
Fouad Saniora on Sunday said only electing a president would activate
state institutions and the rule of law to prevent a return to civil
strife that had shattered Lebanon for over 15 years.

Saniora,
in a statement to the nation on the 33rd anniversary of the civil war
that broke out on April 13 1975, told the Lebanese that even during the
conflict "we managed to elect a president, and this is the present
priority."

"Some
ask if there would be a return by the ordeal of confrontations among
the Lebanese or between others on the Land of the Lebanese. Others
promote dark thoughts and catastrophic expectations," Saniora noted.
"like you, I ask myself daily: what to do?" he added.

The "only answer is no to despair …we should not accept to be pushed back by our own will," Saniora said.

"We
had managed during our ordeal to elect a president, more than once. The
Lebanese civil order confronted the ferocious campaign that tried to
demolish it and managed to rise again," he added.

"Now
we are called to work towards achieving one goal, which is reactivating
our Lebanese constitutional institutions, the basic priority for which
is electing a new president," he concluded