Miqati from Tripoli: Situation in Region Requires All Political Forces to Calm Their Rhetoric

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati stressed on Friday the need for political forces in Lebanon to calm their political rhetoric given the instability in the Arab world.

He said before his visitors in the northern city of Tripoli: “The rhetoric harms the Lebanese people because it is involving them in disputes with fraternal states that have stood by Lebanon and the Lebanese during the hardships they have endured.”

Furthermore, he noted that the positions of officials that do not reflect a unified Lebanese stand will harm the country, especially if these positions contradict the statements they had issued before.

Addressing the government formation process, Miqati said that the consultations are moving forward steadily in the hope of forming a cabinet that would meet the expectations of the Lebanese.

The contacts are taking place in a positive atmosphere and “all the sides are aware of the need to speed up the formation based on the constitution” and the representation of powers in parliament, he said.

“I believe that the government should be based on qualifications of the individual and I call on the various political powers to select their most qualified individuals to represent them in cabinet in order for the government to act as a homogeneous and successful unit,” the premier-designate noted.

Miqati stressed that the media reports on the government formation process are inaccurate because the formation does not depend of “petty disputes, but on respecting the constitution because it protects the Lebanese people and preserves the stability established by the Taif agreement.”