Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday: "The concept of the state is based on the principle that an individual or group voluntarily give up some of what is their right, for the sake of the public interest, which represents the interest of all without exception. As for the logic based on the permanent advocacy of personal rights, it is a logic that often leads to tension and institution disruption, and it is absolutely incompatible with the concept of the state in which the rights of all its citizens are embodied.”
"We call that the second centenary be the centenary of public order in a political approach with clear definitions and principles that adheres to the rules of true democracy and the foundations of building a modern state with one authority,” he noted in a speech at the celebration of the centenary of the Bar Association in Tripoli.
He followed by saying: "It is true that I deal positively and openly with challenges, regardless of their significance, and give discussion and dialogue their maximum extent, but it is also true that dialogue stands at the limits of national and personal convictions from which I can never deviate, most notably the independence of the judiciary, and through it, the protection of the constitution and institutions, and the preservation of Lebanon's Arab affiliation and preservation of the brotherly ties with Arab brothers, foremost of which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”