| | | Date: Jan 16, 2019 | | Source: The Daily Star |  |  |  |
| | Rai says Lebanon needs 'national wake up call' | BEIRUT: Politicians affiliated with Lebanon’s Christian parties arrived in Bkirki Wednesday morning for a meeting called for by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, to mull proposals to resolve the monthslong Cabinet formation deadlock and cope with the deteriorating economy.
“We need a national wake up call so that we can move forward,” Rai said in a televised speech after opening with a prayer.
“This meeting, as Maronites, is for Lebanon and all Lebanese people ... and it is not in our intention to eliminate anybody,” he said.
He called on politicians to work together to save the country from economic, financial, social and political dangers, which he said had all necessitated the meeting.
“Everyone knows the dangerous social situation and living conditions the people are enduring, which prompted them to protest. ... Young people who cannot find jobs are leaving the country ... it’s a great loss that cannot be replaced,” Rai said.
The patriarch said the meeting would also address the issue of Syrian refugees and the Arab Economic and Social Development summit to be held this weekend in Beirut.
Rai had invited the heads of the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Marada Movement, as well as Maronite ministers and lawmakers, hoping that the politicians will reach an understanding on how to meet the challenges facing the country.
LF leader Samir Geagea did not attend because he and his wife MP Strida Geagea are out of the country.
FPM leader Gebran Bassil tweeted from the meeting, writing shortly after Rai’s speech ended that “In Bkirki, we pray Christian, we contemplate Maronite, and we think Lebanese, for our country and people. We come to the meeting with positivity, openness and love.”
FPM MP Chamel Roukoz told reporters as he arrived in Bkirki, “This is a Maronite meeting, but there are definitely national dimensions to it.”
Rai had called the meeting to be held before his planned trip to the United States on Jan. 21. However, local news channel LBCI reported that Rai will postpone the trip, so he can stay in the region to follow up on Pope Francis’ scheduled visit to the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 3-5. |
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