Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Rai valued President Michel Aoun’s call for a national dialogue meeting, underlining the need to assert the country’s unity and dissociation from regional conflicts.
During the Sunday Mass sermon in Bkirki, Rai called on the different political blocs to issue a national document that includes a road map, a unified stance on economic and political matters, and actual recognition of the exclusive authority of the state.
Addressing the political class, he said young women and men on the streets "want the Baabda national dialogue to meet their needs, concerns, fears, their future, and the interests of their homeland.
“To ensure the participation and success of this national gathering, we must emphasize the unity and neutrality of Lebanon, achieve expanded decentralization, preserve the authority of the legitimate state with all its institutions, especially the security and military ones, recognize the exclusive state’s authority over all Lebanese territory, adhere to international laws, fight corruption in all its fields, and protect the independence of the judiciary and free it from any political or partisan interference.”
Rai also urged the different parties to participate in the comprehensive national dialogue that Aoun has called for, for the interest of the country.
