The Guardians of the Cedars Party issued the following weekly communiqué:
Consensus Talk in Lebanon: How to Disguise Injustice behind a Nice Word
There’s no doubt that the Lebanese people appreciate the unprecedented international attention paid to their country. They value greatly the very energetic international initiatives to save the presidential election, and this attention is not only due to Lebanon’s high standing with western capitals, but also because this election has been transformed from a domestic issue into a critical world problem that is capable of undermining stability in the Middle East. This stability is indeed already on a powder keg ready to ignite at any moment, particularly since the conflict over the presidential election has transcended the two sides, the March 8 and the March 14 groups, and has become a conflict between two clashing axes and two opposing strategic projects. As it is known to everyone, the first is led by the United States and Europe, and the second is led by Iran and Syria, and any attempt at reconciling between these two projects is similar to reconciling water with fire.
Therefore, to talk about a settlement in the presidential election crisis by looking for a consensus President is to disguise injustice behind a nice-sounding word. On the surface, a “consensus” appears to save the presidential election, but beneath the surface the outcome is negative since this will postpone for another 6 years a real settlement to the crisis with its many complications and hot files that have piled up over many years and decades.
To be perfectly clear, we are saying that any “consensus” President will be forced to grab the stick by its middle and stand at an equal distance from both sides of the conflict and the two aforementioned projects. Consequently, he will avoid dealing with the thorny issues such as the implementation of international resolutions, particularly those pertaining to taking down all illegal weapons, shutting down all mini-states that exist outside the authority of the government, delineating and sealing the borders with Syria to stop the smuggling of weapons and mercenaries, endorse the process of instituting the International Tribunal, stand up to Iran’s growing influence in Lebanon, etc.
There are many questions in need of urgent answers:
1 – What is the point of all this international, regional and local political activity, if the intent is to save the presidential election but not to save the Republic itself?
2 – What guarantee is there that the prospective “consensus” President himself does not, over time, become a problem and an obstacle to the required solutions, similar to his predecessor who squats today in utter isolation in the corners of Baabda Palace?
3 – And can the Lebanese people withstand and bear the brunt of a crisis whose repercussions weigh heavily on their daily lives for another devastating six years?
We remind all concerned, yet again, that Lebanon is the key to peace and war in this East, and that any delay in solving its pressing crises may lead to a blowup of the entire region and the spread of Lebanon’s fires to it faster than fire in straw.
Lebanon, at your service
Abu Arz