Lebanese Forces Party: Rescue Decisions Can No Longer Be Just Rhetoric

The "Strong Republic" bloc, comprising its parliamentary and ministerial wings, along with the executive committee of the Lebanese Forces party and a group of party officials, held a meeting last evening in Meerab chaired by Dr. Samir Geagea. In a statement, the attendees declared that "after all the tragedy experienced by the Lebanese people, it is no longer acceptable for rescue decisions to remain ink on paper or polished rhetoric from podiums. Any official who delays implementing their duties turns the path of authority into a game of buying time, serving only those who reject the state and deprive Lebanese citizens of security and safety through their recklessness. The first step the state must take is to launch a campaign to purify its institutions, administrations, and agencies from faces whose decisions are linked outside the state, operating according to their handlers' books rather than the constitution. Administrative steps do not require mobilizing military fleets or weak excuses under the guise of civil peace, but rather sincere intent starting with a signed decision implemented with persistence and determination."

They noted that "some specialize in opening absurd battles within institutions, just as in the field, seeking to abort any path that could lead to the actual establishment of the state. Deliberately, they have opened a battle over a new election law in a desperate attempt to dilute the priority of the sovereign battle, which requires focusing all official and popular efforts to permanently save Lebanon from illegal military and security systems, foremost among them Hezbollah."

They considered that "election laws are not commodities to be replaced at every crossroads, and more than two electoral cycles have passed since the adoption of the current system. It is surprising that a parliament that extended its own term dares to discuss a new election law while the country witnesses a fierce war. Changing the election law before ending everything illegitimate, before transitioning to a stage where the state holds weapons and decisions of war and peace, and before holding new parliamentary elections, is an attempt to burden the state that Lebanese people waited for decades with a legacy and fate from the remnants of the past."

The statement added: "Serious questions arise affecting the livelihood and daily suffering of Lebanese people due to the government majority's delay in assuming responsibilities, as manifested in the draft budget bill for 2027. The LF ministers recorded their objection to the approach contained therein, which proved that the vision entrenched in financial decision-making within the government remains determined to impose further costs on Lebanese people caused by corruption and weapons."

Concluding: "The inherited electricity crisis needs only the will to stop waste and a serious vision for a sustainable solution, which Energy and Water Minister Joe Sadi has worked on from the first moment. After the intensification of war disasters, he proposed urgent solutions, starting with dynamic electricity tariffs to free Lebanese people from the control and high prices of private generators, obliging state institutions to pay their dues to Electricite du Liban, canceling the 300,000 LBP tax on fuel, and having the state cover exemptions granted to some regions. However, the lack of response from the government and Ministry of Finance, contrasted with the ease of spending allocations for some parties, raises glaring questions about certain intentions and decisions that cannot be ignored."