Head of the Future bloc MP Fouad Siniora declared on Friday that March 14 forces have never and will never hold weapons against other Lebanese parties, stressing the need to remain committed to national dialogue.
“Our weapons are legitimacy, constitutional institutions and the Lebanese army,” he said.
In a speech he delivered during the ceremony held at Biel, Beirut, to celebrate March 14’s ninth anniversary, Siniora explained that the March 14 forces reject violence, extremism and the Takfiri ideology.
“Extremism is our enemy while moderation is our only choice and approach,” he added.
In his speech Siniora addressed Hezbollah, calling on its fighters to immediately withdraw from Syria and to return to their towns to save the Lebanese people, stressing that March 14 forces does not approve of fighting in Syria.
“The Lebanese people must not be dragged into war against the Syrian people,” he stated.
For his part, March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soueid called on all the parties to unite against strife, stressing the need to turn “unity into the most powerful weapon.”
During the ceremony, Soueid delivered a speech whereby he said that the Syrian people started the countdown for the regime’s fall in Damascus, noting that history works in the favor of freedom.
In turn, Central Committee Coordinator of the Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel stressed that March 14 is not a coalition of parties and political figures, but it represents “the continuity to a struggle started by the Lebanese people to build a civilized, sovereign, free and independent state.”
“March 14 was accused to have been a disappointment since it refused to return violence with violence and to impose its opinion above others, but because March 14 is keen on maintaining peace, state and people, it cannot have recourse to the same means adopted by the other parties,” he explained.
During the Biel ceremony, Gemayel said that March 14’s issue with Hezbollah lies in the fact that the Shiite party refused to engage in a democratic and institutional activity, pointing out that it has violated the laws and the Lebanese Constitution.
“The disastrous equation gave legitimacy to an independent entity that possesses weapons,” he said.
On another note, Gemayel noted that “in case his coalition fails in the elections, it waits and objects, whereas Hezbollah trespasses democracy and resorts to violence.”
The MP added that “surrendering is forbidden,” stressing the need to fight in order to preserve the state and Lebanon’s safety.
For his part, the head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea stressed that the previous and current encounters between the Lebanese people and Hezbollah prove that the latter does not take into consideration the safety of the Lebanese state, noting that “every resistance that works outside the framework of the state, is considered invalid.”
During March 14’s ceremony at Biel, Geagea said that Hezbollah seeks to make the Lebanese state a part of its entity, not vice versa, noting that the Shiite party intervenes in the Syrian war to support the Syrian regime, not to fight against the Takfiris.