Sfeir: MPs must fulfill their duties

by **Admin** Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:16 pm

Halat graves turned out to be a lie

Maronite
Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir expressed his regret over the shooting in
Zahle, which resulted in the deaths of Kataeb supporters Nasri Marouni
and Salim Assi.

“No
factions in Lebanon should possess weapons, as it encourages other
factions to acquire them too,” Sfeir told a delegation of graduates
from the Information Section at the Lebanese University.

“Wars usually begin with talk, and there are parties trying to drive Lebanon toward unrest and strife,” Sfeir added.

He also expressed his regret over the statements about the existence of mass graves in Halat.
“This has led security forces to search the area, but it turned out to be a lie,” Sfeir said.

He
reiterated the need to fill the presidential vacuum. “MPs have a duty
to fulfill, and those who are not doing it are not acting right. MPs
must first and foremost pursue the interests of the country and its
citizens.”

He
noted that the Lebanese have been without a president for more than
five months. “This is something all Lebanese reject, and they must make
efforts to elect a new president,” he added, pointing at the
constitutional requirement of two-thirds of MPs to elect a president.

“If
this does not happen, then the election can be held with a
simple-majority vote. But first there must be a two-thirds quorum,” he
added.

“We
have been making efforts to bring together words and deeds, and we are
giving our opinion on current matters, but is it being taken seriously?”

Sfeir
said he did not hear any talk of the alleged US intention to preserve
the vacuum in Lebanon so that the government remains in power during
his meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs David Welch.

“The Americans are saying that we have a constitution and they respect it.”

He also denied knowledge of a potential visit by MP Michel Aoun and Former Minister Sleiman Franjieh to Bkirki.
When
asked if he demands an apology from Franjieh, who launched a verbal
attack against him, Sfeir said, “we are not demanding this, but this is
something probable, when we meet.”

He also noted the popular movements calling for the election of a president, “for it is not possible for the vacuum to remain.”

“However, we hope that what happened in Zahle does not happen again,” Sfeir said.

He
added that all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims, are facing a plot
against Lebanon and said that he supports the 1960 electoral law, “but
there must be a way for the electoral constituencies to be big.”