BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai criticized Saturday the practice of blocking roads during protests and said that such behavior is unacceptable.

“No one has the right to control [the streets and roads] and no one has the right to block them; this is something unnatural in Lebanon,” Rai said upon arrival at the Rafik Hariri International Airport following his trip to Antioch, Turkey.

He added that the rising phenomenon of blocking roads is due to the state being lenient with those who perpetrate such acts.

He reiterated his call for a return to the 1943 National Pact and for coexistence between Christians and Muslims.

Rai also slammed the term “political cover” and said Lebanon is going backwards, in contrast to the rest of the world.

"With regard to the smallest of violations, they speak of political cover and a political decision. This is unnatural. The world is progressing and open to globalization and we in Lebanon are going backwards and establishing mini-states,” he said.