Al-Rahi Warns Polls Postponement Would Lead to 'Total Destruction' of Lebanon

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has warned that the postponement of the upcoming parliamentary elections would lead to “the total destruction of the country.”

“It is very necessary to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections next year, or else we will face the total destruction of the country,” al-Rahi said.

Moreover, the patriarch cautioned that “Lebanon’s loss of its identity would lead to its isolation from the entire world,” stressing that Lebanon is not “a war state.”

“It has to liberate itself from all regional conflicts,” al-Rahi added, lamenting the presence of “statelets” inside the country.

“If Lebanon comes under attacks from Israel or others, the Lebanese Army must defend this land, even if some figures do not like this rhetoric,” the patriarch went on to say.

He added: “Lebanon and its people are not advocates of war. The Lebanese are today thinking of establishing cultural, economic and commercial ties with the other countries, but they are never thinking of war.”