March 14 General Secretariat warns against strike chaos
The March 14 General Secretariat said the governmental decision to raise minimum wages and launch an official probe into the alleged Hezbollah communications network on Tuesday morning affirmed the Lebanese will to establish sovereignty and protect Lebanon and its citizens indiscriminately in the face of those who attempted to settle regional accounts in the country.
The General Secretariat held a meeting, after which the alliance issued a statement saying that a studied treatment of citizens’ needs should take into account citizens’ “legitimate livelihood demands” and preserve the national economy from risks of inflation. “The call for a strike hence loses its legitimacy,” March 14 said.
The General Confederation of Workers in Lebanon called for a protest on Wednesday after the “government had left workers no option but to head to the streets to demand their right to live in dignity,” according Ghassan Ghosn, president of the confederation.
The March 14 General Secretariat said the anti-government March 8 forces’ call for a strike and demonstration form a political call to allow the Hezbollah state to implement the Iranian scheme at the expense of the state’s interests in nation-building. “This was confirmed by General Michel Aoun, who justified Hezbollah’s communications network and called for the toppling of the government,” the statement said.
In press conference on Monday following the weekly Change and Reform bloc meeting, bloc head General Michel Aoun defended Hezbollah’s communications network as integral to the defense of Lebanon. “Hezbollah’s arms should be awarded a diploma of good conduct,” he added.
Aoun said the pro-government alliance wanted to turn Lebanese citizens into beggars. General Aoun said there was an attempt to blur or overlook the general strike planned by the General Workers Union for May 7. “Riots are prohibited, and security forces are responsible for controlling riots, and not preventing protests,” Aoun said. “We appeal to employers and workers to demonstrate on May 7 together for the government which caused the catastrophe in Lebanon to leave,” he added.
The March 14 forces warned Wednesday’s protesters against manipulating the security of citizens and encroaching on public institutions and private property. The alliance also called on the Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces to assume full responsibility in protecting national security, particularly the Central Band and Beirut International Airport.