Baroud Pledges Security and Stability
Lebanon’s new Minister of Interior, attorney Ziad Baroud, confirmed that he would remain “one of the fiercest defenders” of the National Commission on Electoral Law (NCEL), an organization chaired by former Minister Fouad Butrous delegated with the task of formulating a modern, just electoral law of which Baroud is an active member.
“This body is supposed to hold elections, not the Interior Ministry,” he added, emphasizing that this time around, Lebanon had a neutral Interior Minister.
“Whether Interior Minister or an observing citizen,” Baroud told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Saturday, one day after his appointment. Baroud added that he would uphold Lebanon’s interests above all else.
“I do not see the elections as an end in itself, but as a means to an end: political stability in Lebanon. We need to produce the best possible representative state in 2009, so that post-2009 we can enter a stage of stability,” he added.
The Interior Minister said Lebanon had long suffered at the hands of political instability, but had nonetheless been able to cope with significant challenges, adding that he had no doubt that the Lebanese would fare better if they were united and cooperated with one another.
Minister Baroud said the main challenge that faces him is to achieve "security and stability" for the weary Lebanese people.
Such stability would help usher Lebanon into the 2009 parliamentary elections "smoothly," Baroud added.
He said President Michel Suleiman”s "guidance would help us overcome difficulties."
Ziad Baroud has served as secretary general of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections and was a member of the National Council for a New Electoral Law, which wrote a draft law in 2006.