MP Murr: It is not realistic to destroy the country if you are not elected president

by **Admin** Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:01 am

Gemayel and Murr reestablish political communication

MP
Michel Murr reiterated his accusations against the Change and Reform
bloc headed by MP Michel Aoun for obstructing the presidential
elections.

“I
have failed to convince the bloc’s MPs of the need to elect a
president. This is why I have decided to create public pressure in this
regard,” Murr told NBN Television.

“I
asked the Change and Reform MPs why they were obstructing the
presidential elections and pointed out that people will hold us, and
not Speaker Nabih Berri, responsible,” he added.

He
also said that the matter of Palestinian settlement in Lebanon is being
used as a scare tactic. “Will obstructing the presidential elections
prevent the settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon?” Murr asked.

Murr
ruled out the chances of Aoun being elected president. “It is not
realistic to destroy the country if you are not elected president.”

“A
Christian does not have the right to obstruct the Arab initiative or to
seek destabilization. I am ready to resign as an MP if the Metn MPs
also resign, and if early legislative elections are held within a
month,” Murr said.

He
also expressed his regret for former President Amin Gemayel’s defeat in
the 2007 Metn by-elections. “I voted for Camille Khoury, but my
conscience was telling me, ‘You don’t have the right to elect anyone in
Pierre Amin Gemayel’s place.’”

Murr called for the adoption of the 1960 caza-based electoral law with some amendments.
He
also said that the Change and Reform bloc’s Shia allies want to pursue
Lebanon’s interests, but are being “polite” with Aoun’s bloc.

“The US would accept a consensus president, and not a president from the opposition who would lead to the loss of its allies.”

He
noted that he has always been a political independent “and will remain
as such.” “I will not join the majority, and I still respect MP Michel
Aoun. I did not seek to divide the bloc, and I have not asked anyone to
leave,” he said.

“If joining the majority means insulting and offending Syria, then I won’t pass the test,” Murr said.
Murr
said he was the first to nominate Aoun for the presidency, but that
Army Commander General Michel Sleiman is still the consensus candidate.

“When
Sleiman was suggested, the Change and Reform bloc agreed. But later on,
some bloc members were imposing conditions on his candidacy, which is
unacceptable,” he said.

“Elias
Murr is not the candidate of any bloc. He only represents Michel Murr’s
bloc in the Metn. The Syrians do not object to his appointment as
minster, and this has nothing to do with my withdrawal from the bloc,”
Murr said.

He also criticized the fuss made over the alleged mass graves in Halat and ruled out the outbreak of a civil war in Lebanon.

Meanwhile,
Second Vice President of the Kataeb Party Selim Al-Sayegh said that
Kataeb President Amin Gemayel and MP Michel al-Murr, who recently
announced his break with the opposition-aligned Change and Reform bloc,
discussed the latest developments in the presidential elections in a
phone conversation, adding that both parties paid special attention to
the importance of creating “a new dynamic for activating the election
process.”

Sayegh
released a statement saying that communication between Gemayel and Murr
never ceased on a personal level, noting that on the civil war
commemoration of April 13, the eve of April 26, the date of the Syrian
army’s withdrawal from Lebanon, the Kataeb agreed with all parties on
historical truths which all Lebanese had always believed in,
“regardless of tactical positioning and internal Lebanese politics.”

“As
I said before, I again say that the Kataeb are always open to all
political movements based on their principles to speed up the election
of a president,” Sayegh said.