BEIRUT: The Maronite patriarch expressed on Thursday regret that the outcome of the June 7 parliamentary elections wasn’t being respected in the attempts to form a cabinet, as politicians from rival camps continued to react to recent rhetoric from Bkirki. “I feel regret that the winners in the June 7 elections [haven’t turned out to be] winners, while the losers [haven’t turned out to be] losers,” said Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
Sfeir’s recent statements provoked a heated debate among parties of the majority and the opposition as March 14 officials voiced support for the patriarch while opposition figures slammed Sfeir’s statements questioning the latter’s motives.
Sfeir said last week the minority and majority could not coexist in the same cabinet, adding that the issue of “weapons” is a pivotal concern that cannot be faced with silence, a reference to Hizbullah and the resistance.
On Wednesday, the Council of Maronite Bishops said it adopted Sfeir’s stances as its own with regard to Lebanon’s domestic political issues.
In defense of Sfeir’s stances, the National Bloc slammed Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Hizbullah’s criticism of the patriarch, saying Sfeir’s positions aimed to defend Lebanon’s existence as an independent country.
“The patriarch has always defended the glory of Lebanon and looked out for the welfare of the Lebanese entity,” the bloc’s statement said.
Slamming Hizbullah’s weapons, the bloc said the party imposed its opinion on the Lebanese people under the threat of arms.
“Two groups criticized the patriarch: Hizbullah, which defends its own interests and weapons as a tool to implement its will and that of Iran’s on Lebanon, as well as those who are benefiting from the weapons,” a reference to Hizbullah’s ally, Aoun.
“We wonder how some Christians, who earned legitimacy from fighting militias, are now fierce defenders of the only remaining militia in the country,” the statement said a reference to Aoun’s role as a former Lebanese Army general who fought the Lebanese Forces (LF) during the Civil War.
On Wednesday, Aoun accused Sfeir of “protecting corrupt people” and “standing by corruption.” He also took issue with Sfeir for highlighting the issue of Hizbullah’s weapons in his recent rhetoric.
Similarly, Chouf MP Marwan Hamade voiced support for Sfeir’s stances saying that democracy and weapons can only coexist if the Lebanese Army has monopoly over arms, a reference to the patriarch’s statement that “weapons and democracy cannot coexist.”
On the other hand, the Gathering of National Lebanese Parties and Forces slammed the patriarch’s statements, saying they were aimed, along with recent positions by LF leader Samir Geagea, at abolishing the atmosphere of political consensus in the country.
Geagea has accused Hizbullah of hampering the cabinet formation to serve Iranian and international interests.
Following a meeting with Sfeir in Bkirki Thursday, Geagea slammed Aoun’s statements, saying they were unacceptable both in form and content.
Separately, the Gathering of Islamic Organizations criticized Sfeir, saying “the Maronite Patriarchate has to make a decisive choice: either ‘Lebanon first,’ or protecting Lebanon first, or protecting Lebanon’s people first and last.”
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