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By Mansour Khoury
Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros
Sfeir dismissed speculation that he planned to
reunite President Emile Lahoud and FPM leader
Michel Aoun in Bkirki reiterating Lahoud's
resignation should be constitutional.
"When I said 'they [the opposition] waited 30
years, now they can wait 30 days,' I meant
that [after the Parliament is elected] the
judicial mechanism should be applied," said
Sfeir adding that if the law did not allow it,
"patience is the rule."
Expressing fears Lahoud's resignation by force
might generate instability and violence in the
country, Sfeir said he had always opposed the
Constitutional amendment allowing the
extension of the president's term.
"I was opposed to the extension of both former
President Elias Hraoui's term [in 1994] and
Lahoud's term [in September 2004]. But no one
considered my position then," he said.
Commenting on the current parliamentary
elections, which started on May 29 in
Beirut, Sfeir said: "There is still one round
to go, which will complete the Parliament we
all hope will be efficient and effective,"
said Sfeir.
Sfeir also said he hoped the mountain
reconciliation and electoral alliance between
longtime Druze and Maronite foes in the Chouf
would not
be temporary.
"This reconciliation is not total yet and it
still has some opponents amongst the displaced
who have not returned home yet," he said.
Asked about Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah's use of assassinated
President Bashir Gemayel's "10,452 square
kilometers" slogan, Sfeir said there should be
a final agreement on the status of the
disputed Shebaa Farms, insisting
Lebanon should maintain a strong relationship
with
Syria. |
