Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, regretted in his Christmas message to the Lebanese "the promises that were made to us and not kept, which brought us back to square one."
Addressing politicians, Rahi said "lift off the government blockade exacerbated by external conflicts. We wish the concerned parties would be frank with the people as to the formation of the government. It is the citizen’s right to know."
"Our sense of responsibility prompted us to take an initiative to urge officials to form a government quickly, despite the hidden intentions to impede the formation. We were betting on the conscience of officials. The principle was that no party should control equality between sects," Rahi went on.
"We want a specialized government immune to politicization; one that will return Lebanon to the nations system... not a government in which some control the joints of the state," he asserted.
"The Lebanese want to live in one state, not in statelets for parties and influential people. Citizens want to participate in the national decision.
There is no justification as to why we do not have a government, except for malicious intentions that creep in and wreak havoc," Rahi concluded.
NNA