BEIRUT: Centrist Democrat International, the international political body, announced Friday following a forum jointly organized by the CDI and the Kataeb (Phalange) Party that it was making Beirut its regional hub in the wake of popular pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world.

During the joint forum Friday politicians from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa reiterated their support for the uprisings, and vowed to support all newly emerging pro-democracy political parties in the region.

In an opening speech at the Le Royal Hotel, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel outlined a 17-point charter that he said would be fundamental for Arab political transition to democratic principles and freedom.

“I am committed to human rights in the Arab world and not to the game of power, to the concept of pluralism and not to the power of numbers, to the values of religions and not to religious regimes,” said Gemayel.

But he warned against resorting to terrorism to achieve justice, at the expense of a state’s sovereignty.

“No group of people is entitled under the pretext of resistance, to act on behalf of the state and singlehandedly determine the fate of the people, monopolize the decision of war, and expose other groups and the entire state to danger,” said Gemayel in a likely reference to Hezbollah’s military arsenal.

“There is no legitimacy to any resistance that does not hold fast to the task of building the state and its institutions,” Gemayel added.

Gemayel was followed by the president of CDI, Pier Casini, who criticized parties and states that wage war in the name of God. “We cannot use the name of God for wars because this is not what justice is,” said Casini in Italian, drawing a wave of applause from the crowd.

Casini also called on all governments newly emerging within the region to uphold religious diversity and freedoms. “Religious freedom is [one of the] basics of all other freedoms ... if religious freedom is absent, all other freedoms will be lost,” Casini noted.

Regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya collapsed in the past year following a wave of pro-democracy protests, while Syrian President Bashar Assad has for the past 10 months been battling pro-democracy demonstrators.

While most politicians voiced optimism and hope over recent statements and commitments made by the prominent religious leadership of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque regarding pluralism in post-Mubarak Egypt, Naguib Sawiris, a founding member of Egypt’s liberal bloc and the founder of Free Egyptians Party, said the world should be vigilant after the Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s parliamentary elections.

“Closing an eye and allowing religious parties to take over is disastrous ... such a polarization is not good for Egypt,” Sawiris told the audience.

“Challenges have already begun against those who are not religious,” said Sawiris, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood and other religious parties used religious incitement to pit voters against liberal politicians.

“Today there is an exercise of arrogance of power [in Egypt],” he added.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that he openly supports the wave of uprisings in the region. “I stand today to renew my faith in the Arab Spring and its future prospects when so many are still doubting it ... I still believe that what is happening is good for Arabs and the rest of the world because it will allow the moderate movements to fill the decades-old vacuum,” said Siniora.

Some in the Arab world and in Lebanon fear that popular pro-democracy uprisings may lead to dictatorial regimes built on religious ideologies.

In Lebanon, several parties and politicians are still hesitant in their support for the popular uprising in the neighboring Syria.

Commenting on the electoral victories achieved by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Tunisia, Siniora said that it is normal for people to seek comfort in the more conservative parties because they believe those parties can provide solutions to their daily problems. “Even in countries that have older traditional democratic systems, we will see that in times of crisis, people seek the comfort of the more conservative because they have readymade answers,” he said.

“We may not like some of the election results ... but this is part of the process. This process does not end in 97.5 percent going in one direction,” said Siniora in a likely reference to parliamentary elections in countries governed by dictatorships.

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban shared his own country’s experience of transition from a Soviet-bloc country to a democratic and free member of the European Union.

Orban said he could understand the challenges facing the countries in the region in the wake of the popular uprisings. “I started my political life as a freedom fighter against the Communist regime more than 25 years ago ... I know what it means to bring down a dictatorship through a popular movement,” he said “Our people suffered more than 20 years to reach a transition to a free market and democracy.”

However, Orban warned against abandoning religious and cultural values in newly established political systems. “Never build up a democracy which kills your cultural background and values,” said Orban. “These core values are the ones that would maintain your democracy.”

Franco Frattini, Italy’s former foreign affairs minister, told The Daily Star that Europe should extend its hand to the Arabs in this delicate time to help them consolidate democratic institutions.

“We should not stop helping simply because the EU is going through a financial crisis,” said Frattini.

“Helping not patronizing, helping but not imposing ... we need to help to consolidate a way in which people would decide for themselves ... this should be our main goal,” said Frattini.

According to Frattini, who stepped down as Italy’s foreign minister in November of last year, democracy should guarantee religious liberties in the Arab world.

Addressing the Syrian crisis, Frattini said that it was time for the international community to go to the United Nations Security Council to make a firm decision regarding the unrest, which the U.N. says has lead to the deaths of over 5,400 Syrians.

“I think the risk of the Syrian crisis spilling over to Lebanon still exists, but the world should remain vigilant,” said Frattini. “The time has come for the Security Council to have a decision on Syria without an armed intervention.”