Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai said the dialogue between Lebanon’s political parties to solve the country’s crisis remained “unfulfilled”, adding that the country has a problem with its lost identity.
“Lebanon is sick because of its lost identity which must be restored,” said Rahi in remarks he made during his New Year sermon on Sunday.
The Patriarch also criticized the Hezbollah party without naming it. He referred to “politicians and partisans who brought the wars of others to Lebanon, and went to the wars of others in their own lands, which led to its collapse and isolation from the Arab countries and the international community."
Rai said Lebanon must “restore its identity” which he said the country has lost as a result of the interference of some parties in the wars of others.
“It is necessary for Lebanon to restore the robustness it lost, … it is a place of convergence and dialogue, and an element of stability in the region,” he said.
On the calls of President Michel Aoun on Lebanon’s political parties to sit down for “national dialogue”, the Patriarch reacted without directly referring to Aoun saying that local dialogue has so far remained “unfulfilled.”
He called for providing the appropriate atmosphere to launch a national dialogue and stage the parliamentary elections under the supervision of international observers.
“If intentions are sincere, the coming period shall be sufficient to revive government work, end negotiations with international financial institutions, control borders, restore relations with the Gulf states, primarily the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and rectify Lebanon’s position, moving from bias to neutrality, and from the policy of axes to a balanced policy,” concluded Rai.
