Patriarch warns victory for opposition camp would mean “historic mistakes”
Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir was the target of criticism by March 8 media and politicians over the weekend following remarks to Al-Massira magazine in which he warned against "historic mistakes" if the March 8 Forces win the majority of seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
While Free Patriotic Movement MP Camille Khoury told Hizbullah”s Al-Manar television on Saturday that he wished Sfeir would issue a statement denying or clarifying his comments, news reports said that the FPM”s leader, MP Michel Aoun, would respond by boycotting a traditional Saint Maroun Mass scheduled for Monday.
However, FPM sources said on Sunday that Aoun”s decision had nothing to do with the patriarch”s recent comments, adding that a number of Aounist lawmakers would be attending the service.
Former Prime Minister Omar Karami, another March 8 politician, also tacitly criticized Sfeir on Saturday, without naming him, urging clerics not to interfere in politics in order to avoid criticism.
Lebanese Forces (LF) lawmaker Antoine Zahra came to the defense of the patriarch on Sunday, accusing Karami of adopting double standards.
"Why does Karami accept intervention in politics by all other clergymen, at all levels, starting with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah?" he asked. "We don”t accept this attack and similar attacks by irrelevant people on our religious symbols."
Sfeir met on Sunday with the commander of Lebanese Armed Forces, General Jean Kahwaji, who attended the regular Sunday service at Bkirki.
In his sermon, the patriarch addressed Kahwaji, asking God to help him in managing his duties and overcoming difficulties.
LF lawmaker George Adwan also visited Sfeir on Sunday, after which he told reporters that the patriarch”s worries were always driven by his concern for national interests. Adwan called on all Lebanese to take responsible decisions as they head to ballot boxes on June 7.
Asked whether a seat was reserved for him on the March 14 list in the qada of Chouf, Adwan said that the issue had been settled a "long time ago."
"The Lebanese Forces have reached an agreement on this issue with the Progressive Socialist Party [PSP] and Future Movement," he said.
Adwan currently occupies one of three Maronite seats in Chouf, but he is likely to face competition from allied candidates in the June polls.
Also Sunday, former President Amin Gemayel told local daily An-Nahar that MP Michel Murr had taken the right decision by extending his hand to the Phalange Party in the upcoming elections. "We in turn are ready to extend our hand to any party that shares our national aspirations," he said.
Murr, who last week declared his candidacy atop an independent Christian list, said that his allies in the qada of Metn were the Phalange Party and the Armenian Tashnak Party.
Sources close to Murr and Gemayel told An-Nahar that the two veteran politicians would meet soon.
Gemayel also defended Sfeir on Sunday, arguing that the patriarch had the right to worry about Lebanon”s destiny.
"Patriarch Sfeir does not practice politics in the narrow sense. The Cedar Revolution of 2005 was launched on the basis of his understanding of sovereignty," he said. "The fears expressed by the patriarch are shared by most Lebanese."
Also Sunday, Speaker Nabih Berri said sectarian divisions represented the real threat to national unity in Lebanon.
"The results of the upcoming elections will not threaten the fate of the country, but sectarian divisions can shatter national unity," he told members of his Amal Movement”s women”s wing. "All factions should realize that this country can only be governed on the basis of partnership and consensus."
On a separate front, PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt said after meeting Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the Grand Serial on Sunday that he had decided to suspend his party”s participation in a committee designed to discuss a defense strategy for Lebanon. The committee is the result of four rounds of national talks between the country”s rival leaders.
Jumblatt had previously named former military officer Sharif Fayyad as his party”s representative in the committee.
Minister of State Wael Abu Faour, also a PSP member, justified Jumblatt”s decision on Sunday, arguing that committee discussions were only theoretical and would not be able to change the ground situation.
"This decision is not directed against the president or the national dialogue. It is rather a belief by MP Jumblatt that the work of the committee will have no effect on the ground," Abu Faour said.
Hizbullah”s arsenal is at the heart of the national talks, which were agreed to in last May”s Doha Accords that ended an 18-month power struggle.
Daily Star/ Lebanese Forces Website Team