March 14: President Must Cease Searching for Futile Settlements with March 8 Camp

The March General Secretariat called on Wednesday President Michel Suleiman to halt his efforts to reach “futile” settlements with the March 8 camp seeing as Hizbullah and its allies have sought take over Lebanon by force since the Cedar Revolution in 2005.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The President should cease cooperating with the camp that staged a coup against the previous government and force all political parties to assume their responsibilities.”

“Hizbullah and its allies’ practices have obstructed the functioning of the state and its institutions, but they have now reached a dead end given the crisis its regional ally is experiencing,” it continued.

“The popular uprisings in the Arab world have prevented Hizbullah and its allies from forming a government with the characteristics they thought were in their grasps,” it stated.

“The March 8 camp can no longer continue its current policies and it is now impossible for it to achieve the goals of its coup,” the statement added.

The President should therefore “resolve the issue of Hizbullah’s arms and grant the army sole responsibility to defend the country.”

“He should work on achieving national reconciliation on the basis of justice, not its expense, and end the threat of sectarian strife that is lurking in Lebanon and the region,” it noted.

“All sides should adhere to the rules of the state and work on rehabilitating and developing it towards the establishment of a civil state based on the Taef Accord,” the March 14 General Secretariat said.