In his Sunday homily in Harissa (Keserwan), Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The results of municipal and local elections should have been an "opportunity to extend hands to the losers democratically, not a display of celebrations, dancing, and fireworks,” Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai said in his Sunday homily from Harissa (Keserwan), the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Rai warned that such displays “increase tensions within a town, create division among its people, and fuel hostility.”
Last Sunday, Lebanon concluded its last round of municipal elections, the last ones dating back to 2016.
Last week the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) reported 613 violations during last Saturday's elections in southern Lebanon, 740 in last week's elections in the Bekaa and Beirut, and 838 in the first week's Mount Lebanon elections. It described a "climate of chaos" ripe with bribery in the second week's north Lebanon elections, for which the Interior Ministry said it had received 675 complaints.
Rai also said that "Lebanon needs men and women who believe in a culture of love: a culture of life, not cancellation; a culture of dialogue, not conflict; a culture of service, not self-interest,” NNA reported.
“It is time for politicians to unite their word in public affairs, in a society diverse in cultures, religions, and political affiliations. For example, the results of municipal and local elections should have been an opportunity to extend hands to the losers democratically, not a display of celebrations, dancing, and fireworks. These increase tensions within a town, create division among its people, and fuel hostility.”