Suleiman: Any Arms Used Domestically Must be Removed, I Won't Accept Term Extension
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday reiterated that "any weapons used domestically must be removed," stressing that he will not accept that his presidential term be extended.
“Any weapons used domestically must be removed and this issue has nothing to do with the defense strategy and it is a separate item on the national dialogue's agenda,” Suleiman said in an interview on NBN television.
“The defense strategy must not confuse the parties because we have been discussing the issue since 2006,” he added.
Suleiman revealed that he will not accept that his presidential term be extended, stressing that “the constitution must be respected.”
Turning to the issue of the electoral law under which the 2013 parliamentary elections will be held, the president said: “The electoral law must be constitutional and I will refer any law to the Constitutional Court to look into its constitutionality.”
“I will leave it up to parliament to decide on the electoral law and in light of the parliament's decision I will refer the law to the Constitutional Court,” he added.
Addressing the concerns of Christians over the electoral law, Suleiman said “Christians' distinguishing feature is diversity and without diversity they cannot have a role in the Orient, so let the electoral law be constitutional.”
“Fear can only be dissipated through dialogue and Muslims in Lebanon want Christians to maintain their pioneering role,” the president noted.
“After approving an electoral law, we must seriously consider creating a senate and after that we can start thinking about turning Lebanon into a single electorate,” Suleiman said.
Asked about his recent stances on the Syrian crisis and Hizbullah's arms, Suleiman said “extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary stances.”
Asked whether he has received a phone call from Syrian President Bashar Assad clarifying Damascus' stance on the Samaha-Mamlouk plot, Suleiman said “the phone call with Assad has not happened yet and I hope this phone call will take place.”
Suleiman had called on Assad to “clarify the matter,” after Lebanon's Military Court charged ex-minister Michel Samaha and Syrian security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk with forming a group to commit crimes in Lebanon.
A Syrian army colonel named only as Adnan was also accused as being an accessory to the conspiracy.
All three are suspected of forming a group to provoke sectarian killings and terrorist acts using explosives, which were transported and stored by Samaha.
Asked about claims that he has changed his stances following his recent trip to Turkey, Suleiman said: “I did not receive a 'password' from the Turks and we only tackled the issue of the (Lebanese) abductees (in Syria). I will not allow any state to discuss domestic Lebanese policies with me and my strong immunity enables me to reject that.”
“Contacts with Syria were going well and have not been severed and we can't say that they have been suspended because communication between the two countries' institutes has not stopped,” Suleiman noted.
The president promised the Lebanese that “security will be preserved firmly and bravely and that any security breach will be quickly contained.”
“In my opinion, a good security situation in Lebanon suits all regional parties,” he noted.
“The turmoil in Syria is worrying for Lebanon and the two peoples have close relations. Of course I'm committed to dissociating Lebanon from the conflicts and I have said that we're the friends of all the Syrian people,” Suleiman went on to say.
Commenting on the issue of administrative appointments, Suleiman said “not having any appointments at all is better than making bad appointments on the basis of the distribution of shares.”
The president noted that “any constitution needs constant improvements and no president is totally satisfied with the constitution of his country and must always try to detect any shortfalls.”
“When the Syrians left, the gaps of the constitution surfaced and what's needed is organizing work and finding solutions to the constitutional problems rather than amending the Taef Accord,” he added.
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10 October 2012, 21:35
Suleiman: Fear can only be dissipated through dialogue and Muslims in Lebanon want Christians to maintain their pioneering role.
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10 October 2012, 21:34
Suleiman: The Christians' distinguishing feature is diversity and without diversity they cannot have a role in the Orient, so let the electoral law be constitutional.
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10 October 2012, 21:33
Suleiman: I will leave it up to parliament to decide on the electoral law and in light of the parliament's decision I will refer the law to the Constitutional Court.
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10 October 2012, 21:32
Suleiman: The electoral law must be constitutional and I will refer any law to the Constitutional Court to look into its constitutionality.
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10 October 2012, 21:23
Suleiman: Not having any appointments at all is better than making bad appointments on the basis of the distribution of shares.
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10 October 2012, 21:11
Suleiman: The defense strategy must not confuse the parties because we have been discussing the issue since 2006.
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10 October 2012, 21:10
Suleiman: Any weapons used domestically must be removed and this issue has nothing to do with the defense strategy and it is a separate item on the national dialogue's agenda.
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10 October 2012, 21:07
Suleiman: Iran clarified that Revolutionary Guard members existed in Lebanon in the past and we must accept the answer and investigate the issue and if it turns out to be correct we must implement the law as we're the masters of our country, but until now we have not detected the presence of any members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon.
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10 October 2012, 21:06
Suleiman: The turmoil in Syria is worrying for Lebanon and the two peoples have close relations. Of course I'm committed to dissociating Lebanon from the conflicts and I have said that we're the friends of all the Syrian people.
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10 October 2012, 21:03
Suleiman: Contacts with Syria were going well and have not been severed and we can't say that they have been suspended because communication between the two countries' institutes has not stopped.
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10 October 2012, 21:01
Suleiman: I promise that security will be preserved firmly and bravely and that any security breach will be quickly contained. In my opinion, a good security situation in Lebanon suits all regional parties.
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10 October 2012, 20:54
Suleiman: I will not accept that my presidential term be extended and the constitution must be respected.
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10 October 2012, 20:50
Suleiman: I'm not planning to launch a political movement, but such a movement might establish itself and emerge from the street. There is popular satisfaction with the president's performance and this might pave the ground for the establishment of such a movement in the future.
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10 October 2012, 20:49
Suleiman: After approving an electoral law, we must seriously consider creating a senate and after that we can start thinking about turning Lebanon into a single electorate.
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10 October 2012, 20:46
Suleiman: I did not receive a "password" from the Turks and we only tackled the issue of the abductees. I will not allow any state to discuss domestic Lebanese policies with me and my strong immunity enables me to reject that.
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10 October 2012, 20:45
Suleiman: The phone call with Assad has not happened yet and I hope this phone call will take place.
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10 October 2012, 20:44
Suleiman: The extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary stances.
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10 October 2012, 20:38
Suleiman: When the Syrians left, the gaps of the constitution surfaced and what's needed is organizing work and finding solutions to the constitutional problems rather than amending the Taef Accord.
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10 October 2012, 20:37
President Michel Suleiman in an interview on NBN television: Any constitution needs constant improvements and no president is totally satisfied with the constitution of his country and must always try to detect any shortfalls.
10 October 2012, 22:57
03
"but until now we have not detected the presence of any members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon. "
i guess that if you look for them as well as the 4 hezbis wanted by the STL of course you won t find any!
"we must seriously consider creating a senate" LOL! for what? wasting more money on useless and irresponsible people?
10 October 2012, 23:36
02
fakhamto is playing the game in a "magistrale" way,fakhamto is avoiding all the traps.
11 October 2012, 13:00
05
and I suppose the M8-sponsored wilayat al-faqih/hizballah terrorism and ignorant/religious fundamentalism passed right under your radar...
11 October 2012, 16:20
03
I think you should take out the sentence you keep repeating "February 14-sponsored Wahabism, Arabism and terrorism" out of your copy-paste clipboard....I think someone else typed in for you and you copied it and pasted it since your brainwashed brain can't process things on it's own.
I agree with our Guest's comment....
Do you really believe that the LF and Kataeb, the two most Christian groups in Lebanon, would really bow down to Wahabism? The two parties that fought to the teath to maintain the Christian presence during the past 30 years?
11 October 2012, 16:20
03
Please Karim_m1, before you keep on accusing people left and right, why don't you ask your masters about how loyal they are to Lebanon, and what their stances are when Iran says that HA has their backs in case of a war with Israel....
The proble is not with your masters, but with people like you who believe everything they say "just because"....
Grow up man, and think about it, in their speaches...they defend Syria and Iran more than they defend Lebanon! Maybe you should all go live there then!
11 October 2012, 21:56
01
I hope that he heard Nasrallah this evening, so that he knows that all the Hizballah arms are not going to be surrendered to the central authorities.
12 October 2012, 20:10
00
Mr. president knows that Nousralla is JUST an Iranian agent with a bunch of fanatics and lot of weapons....a criminal gang...
