Phalange Party: Regional Situation Requires Elections on Time, Consensual Law

The Phalange Party on Monday pointed out that “the regional situation requires insistence on drafting an electoral law that enjoys comprehensive national consensus” in order to hold the parliamentary elections on time.

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party called on Lebanon's political forces to "close ranks and agree on a 'pact of honor' in which they pledge to preserve the principles upon which Lebanon was built: coexistence among its sects and resorting to democracy.”

Commenting on the latest controversy over Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour's remarks on Syria at the Arab League, the Phalange Party called on the government to “preserve Lebanon's active role at the Arab League and deal responsibly with all the raised issues, especially the Syrian crisis … according to the Baabda Declaration and the principle of neutrality it stipulates.”

It also called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet to “deal seriously with the clear message conveyed by the Gulf Cooperation Council's ministerial delegation to the Lebanese officials, and the worrisome indications it carried concerning the involvement of Lebanese parties in the ongoing conflict in Syria, whether militarily or through the stances that targeted brotherly countries.”

Separately, the political bureau said that “on the 8th anniversary of the Cedar Revolution, the Phalange Party reiterates its stance on the principles endorsed by the March 14 coalition, which led to regaining the country's sovereignty.”

Leaders of the March 14 alliance are expected to be absent from the coalition's eighth anniversary of the formation of the movement at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (BIEL) on March 17.

Sources close to the March 14 General Secretariat told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Monday that the alliance's leaders will not be able to attend the celebration over security fears.

The coalition takes its name from the historic demonstration in downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square on March 14, 2005 that ultimately led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon in the aftermath of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.