The head of the Maronite Church Béchara Raï said on Sunday that the inauguration speech of the new president and former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, presented a “new national vision”.
Arms monopoly in the hands of the State, independence of justice, policy of positive neutrality… the swearing-in of Joseph Aoun, pronounced a few minutes after his election on Thursday with 99 votes out of 128, was warmly applauded on several occasions by parliamentarians.
In his Sunday homily, Mgr Raï welcomed the words of Mr. Aoun, believing that the latter presented a “new national vision based on the establishment of a State of institutions and justice based on the Constitution and solidarity in the face of to adversity, because the fall of one of us means the fall of all of us.” “The speech insisted on the need to modify political governance and strengthen the rule of law,” recalled the prelate.
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He also welcomed other points in the speech, including the fact that there will be “no immunity for the corrupt or criminals, but rather a fight against drug smuggling and money laundering.” He also welcomed the points of reform mentioned by the new head of state, in particular “cooperation with the new government, whose president will be a partner rather than an adversary in passing the law on the independence of the judicial power; confirmation of the exclusive right of the State to possess weapons; investment in the army to control and stabilize the borders; and the reconstruction of what Israel destroyed in the South, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa.” Béchara Raï finally welcomed the president’s promise “to invest in our external relations, not to bet on foreign countries to intimidate each other and to practice positive neutrality (…)”.
Audi: “New approach to governance”
For his part, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Mgr Elias Audi, hoped that President Aoun “will establish a new approach to governance based on integrity, transparency, accountability, and efficiency, in moving Lebanon away from axis politics, respecting the laws and applying them to all.”
“We hope that he will be able to implement everything he promised in his speech and build, with his government, a modern, just and strong state which (…) imposes its influence on all, restores the prestige of judicial power (…) and the sanctity of the Constitution, so that some who claim sovereignty and interest in the Constitution no longer have the right to set themselves up as its protectors after having ignored it , circumvented, distorted and having committed illegalities against it “, he added.
The head of the Maronite Church Béchara Raï said on Sunday that the inauguration speech of the new president and former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, presented a “new national vision”. Arms monopoly in the hands of the State, independence of justice, policy of positive neutrality… the swearing-in of Joseph Aoun,…
