A move that prompted anger among Christians

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2022-12-08 | 01:59
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A move that prompted anger among Christians
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4min
A move that prompted anger among Christians
The cabinet meeting, which caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati insisted on holding with the support of the "Shiite duo," sent a harsh message to Christians, stating that the country can function even in the absence of the Christian component.

This article was originally published in, and translated from, Lebanese newspaper Nida Al Watan.

The ministerial meeting appears to be a short message from Hezbollah to the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), MP Gebran Bassil, against the latter's refusal to accept the party's candidate head of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh.

Thus, what happened came in the absence of the two forces that represent the Christian community, the "Lebanese Forces" and its Christian allies, and the "Free Patriotic Movement" and its allies, as this instance would be the first since the withdrawal of the Syrian occupation army from Lebanon.

However, some Christian ministers attended, such as Industry Minister George Bouchikian, who was later dismissed from the Armenian MPs bloc, while the representation of Marada could not secure Christian cover.

The participation of Education Minister Abbas Halabi, who is affiliated with the Progressive Socialist party, was also remarkable. Thus the Islamic components were present, and the Christian community was absent.

Consequently, a church source criticized what happened, considering that "this should not be the way a country is run."

"The issue is not holding a cabinet meeting to score goals between the disputing parties. Rather, the issue should have been limited to electing a president, and if the parties were serious in this regard, we would not need this controversy," the same source added.

"Several attendees argued that some important items must be approved, on top of which is the items related to medicines for cancer diseases," the source indicated.

"When there were a government and a President, you left cancer patients without medicines, so can we believe you now when people are dying at the gates of hospitals?" the source stressed.

The same source mentioned that "what we witnessed is an evocation of the time of the 'troika' and the use of some Christian tools that do not represent the Christian community.

For example, the country was previously ruled by the cooperation and solidarity of former PM Rafik Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri, and Walid Jumblatt in the presence of some Christian politicians such as Frangieh as what they called 'the pact is present.'

What happened yesterday is that the Syrian administration moved to "Hezbollah." At the same time, a new "troika" appeared, presented by Mikati, Berri, and Jumblatt, with the participation of Frangieh, to say that some Christians were present. Therefore all this path is a blow to the Christian component."

However, the same source evokes the experience of former PM Tammam Salam, explaining that "he was known for his positions, and that he had a government, not a caretaker one. After the end of President Michel Suleiman's term in 2014, he insisted on not skipping the first position in The Republic. Every decision taken was appended to all ministers' signatures without exception. But, Mikati acted as if there was no necessity for the presidency and the country could proceed with a caretaker government."

Undoubtedly, what happened represents a solid blow to the Christian component and not only to the FPM.

Hence, the team that took this step is reviewing its repercussions well, especially since holding ministerial meetings aroused Christians' anger without exception. But, some consider it an attempt by the Islamic components, led by the "Shia duo," to impose a new president without the consensus of the Christians.

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