Kataeb party says presidential elections should be held on time, condemns infringement of UN resolutions

The Kataeb Party called on Monday for specifying a date for the parliamentary session in which the new president will be elected, stressing that the upcoming presidential elections should be held on their due date in order to prevent any void at the presidential level.   

Following the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the Kataeb party called for ratifying a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections, and asked for considering the said dossier as a major item on the agenda of the cabinet.   

"Postponing the elections will have serious consequences on democracy and on the rights of voters," the party said in its statement.   

The party also emphasized the necessity of putting in force a security plan for areas that are witnessing tension and regions that are hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.    

The political bureau said in the statement that the plan should grant the Lebanese Army along with security forces the prerogatives to maintain security and stability in all Lebanese regions, and to “liberate Arsal and its neighboring regions as well as Tripoli and its surroundings from the grip of arms and counter-arms."    

It also called in its statement on Lebanese authorities to implement measures in order to prevent the spillover of tension in the stated regions into other secure regions.

The political bureau expressed its total rejection to any form of attack targeting the Lebanese army, denouncing the kidnapping attempt of Bishop Semaan Atallah and describing it as an attempt to create strife and chaos across the Lebanese regions.      

In this regard the party called for launching swift investigations in the incident to arrest the perpetrators and take legal action against them.      

On another note, the Kataeb party condemned the Israeli violations and the “dangerous infringement of the UN resolution 1701,” as well as the Syrian breaches to Lebanon’s sovereignty on the northern border regions and across the Bekaa, calling for deploying the army along the borders and urging the authorities to take the necessary measures to respond to any attack.       

Separately, the bureau stressed, in its statement, the need to prepare a clear agenda for the meeting of the national dialogue committee, which must include items related to the issue of the illegal weapons, Hezbollah’s intervention in the Syrian war and the fight against terrorism.