Unified March 14 to proceed to 2009 parliamentary elections
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said that the decrease in violence in the North and the successful achievement of the Tripoli Memorandum on Monday, were proof that the Syrian regime observed no regional or international desire to allow its return to Lebanon.
In an interview with al-Shiraa magazine on Friday, Zahra said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wanted to illustrate that a Syrian return to Lebanon would solve the country’s problems. Assad’s comments during the Syrian talks with Israel through Turkey; Assad’s visit to Moscow and his comparison of the Russia-Georgia situation to that of the Syria-Lebanon situation; his statement after the quadripartite talks in Damascus, which was approved by Qatar and France, concerning his view of Lebanon and his request to President Michel Sleiman; and his statements that Salafism in the North is the true danger in Lebanon. These indications demonstrated the Assad’s true intententions.
Zahra said that March 14 proved that it was not a simple coalition led by one force, but a true alliance that had a strategic, political project: building a strong Lebanese state. He added that March 14 was distinguished for its solidarity and use of democratic means to reach its aims.
He said the March 14 alliance was firm, and it would head “unified” to the parliamentary elections in 2009. He added that there was competition between two projects: that of the Cedar Revolution, based on the state and its institutions, and the project to abolish state institutions and restore the hegemony of one party with ties to regional forces.
Zahra also told the magazine that the state-building process, which started with the election of Sleiman, the formation of the cabinet, the release of the ministerial statement and the appointment of the army commander, would be firm and final, as decreed in Doha.
“With every step forward, we will be moving away from chaos and the destruction of state and its institutions,” he said.