Former Lebanese president and current Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel praised on Thursday Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir after meeting him in Bkirki :
“Patriarch Sfeir is one of a kind Patriarch and history will recognize his wisdom and leadership in the hardest phases,” according to a statement issued by Gemayel’s office.
Gemayel sounded an alarm about Lebanon’s future.
“We fear that Lebanon will be taken back to the dark days of repressive regimes,” the statement quoted Gemayel as saying after the meeting.
“The March 8 team is able to form a cabinet since they have one ‘Maestro’ managing the operation,” Gemayel added, in reference to Syria which backs the Hezbollah-led march 8 alliance
The former president hinted the March 8 forces were seeking to “avenge” the March 14 Cedar Revolution that forced the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon in 2005, helped establish the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and contributed to holding free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
About the sixth anniversary of the Cedar Revolution, the Phalange leader said that Sunday, March 13 will be an occasion to reject the return of hegemony and for the Lebanese to reaffirm the principles of the Cedar Revolution
Sfeir
Sfeir who is Lebanon’s top Christian spiritual leader predicted last December that Hezbollah is planning to seize power in Lebanon.
During an interview on Dec 21 with MTV he said : “The way Hezbollah is acting gives the impression that they might seize power in Lebanon.”
Less than a month later Hariri’s government collapsed
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 .
Sfeir said during the same December MTV interview : “We hope no Lebanese were involved in Hariri’s murder , but if those involved are Lebanese, every criminal must face punishment.”
Nagib Mikati, who was backed by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies including MP Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi, was appointed on January 25 by president Michel Suleiman as PM-designate to form and head the next cabinet , giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protest.
Last month U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton accused Hezbollah of hijacking Lebanon’s democracy.
The Lebanese “deserve to have their democracy respected and their voices heard, and not have one element of their society using the threat of force and the potential of violence to try to achieve political ends,” she said.
This was a possible reference to the alleged Hezbollah threats against MP Walid Jumblatt and his PSP parliament members that forced them to switch allegiance to Hezbollah’s PM candidate.
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