Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai. (Credit: National News Agency)
Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai joined the opposition on Sunday in criticizing the role given to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in the cease-fire talks between Hezbollah and Israel.
In his homily in Bkirki, he denounced the fact that Lebanon has been “intentionally” without a president for over two years, and asked: “Who is negotiating the cease-fire? In whose name and in whose interest?”
Article 52 of the Lebanese Constitution grants the President of Lebanon the power to “negotiate international treaties in consultation with the Prime Minister,” specifying that such agreements “shall enter into force only after approval by the Cabinet.” But in the absence of the president, it is the Cabinet that exercises its prerogatives. This has led many experts to argue that it is the outgoing head of government who should lead the negotiations, whereas it is Nabih Berri who has been negotiating a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel almost single-handedly for weeks. The legislative leader's detractors protested against this fait accompli when they met the American envoy Amos Hochstein during the latter's last visit on Tuesday.
These negotiations are “the first prerogative of the President, a position that has been intentionally vacant” for more than two years, continued Rai, while “Parliament has lost its legislative power since it has become an electoral body” and the government is “in charge of current affairs, has no power and is divided.”
He also lamented the “painful reality” of Lebanon today, notably the war that is killing “civilians, women and children,” the destruction of homes and the massive displacement of the population.
The importance of a strong state
The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Elias Audi, called on the Lebanese “not to lose sight” of the importance of a strong state and an army that “cannot be called into question,” in the face of the war and crises the country is going through.
“Two days ago, the feast of Independence took place in sadness,” while Lebanon is "shackled and lost, because of conflicts, interference, the non-application of the Constitution and the absence of a president who can serve as compass and captain," said Audi in his Sunday homily.
“Most Lebanese feel that their country is being lost and that their independence is regressing,” he added, calling on them "not to lose sight of the only thing that can protect them: A strong, just and democratic state, a state with a constitution and the rule of law." He also spoke of the importance of “a State whose army carries out its missions without being questioned or criticized.” To achieve this, the country needs “statesmen who put Lebanon's interests above their own.”
In this context, the religious dignitary called for the election of a president who “will work with his government to redress the situation, conduct negotiations, draw up a rescue plan, build institutions and place the Lebanese under the authority of the State, which alone can protect and defend its citizens.”
Audi said it was “time to stop playing games with this country for objectives that do not belong to it, and to stop the machine of death and destruction,” at a time when the Israeli army continues to strike hard at southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, the southern suburbs of Beirut and, on several occasions in recent weeks, other regions, notably the center of the capital.