The Guardians of the Cedars Party issued the following weekly communiqué:

It is imperative to remind those in charge of drafting a new parliamentary elections law that any law to be approved in Parliament will be seriously lacking if it is not amended to give the Lebanese emigrants the right to participate in the balloting as voters or as candidates.

Since its establishment in the 1940s of the past century, the Lebanese State has ignored this natural right of millions of Lebanese scattered across the world and denied them, either deliberately or out of ignorance, to participate in Lebanese political life, even as the State knew that those emigrants have been for generations, and to this day, the economic and political lifeline of the country.

Thanks to the funds that emigrants continue to pump into the veins of the Lebanese economy, most Lebanese families have been able to remain steadfast in the homeland and face the continuous stifling livelihood crises that have hit them.

Thanks to the Lebanese expatriate communities whose standing is high around the world, particularly the active and vigorous Lebanese lobby in the international circles, Lebanon was able to ward off the external dangers and thwart the regional conspiracies that were plotted against it.

To continue to ignore the emigrants with respect to their participation in parliamentary elections, as voters and as candidates, is tantamount to a new crime to be added to the many crimes perpetrated by the politicians against Lebanon. We therefore hope that the President will embrace this issue, which is a national issue par excellence, because nothing can be expected from the country’s political class that is far out of touch with the concerns of the country and the citizens.

Lebanon, at your service

Abu Arz
September 26, 2008