Geagea says no one aims to target Shiites, supports full rotation of cabinet portfolios

22/9/2020

Lebanon- Lebanese Forces party chief, Samir Geagea, on Monday asserted that "no one aimed to target Shiites in Lebanon", refuting allegations echoing attempts to eliminate the entire Shiite community. Geagea also expressed his political party’s full support of the rotation of cabinet portfolios.

“Shiites are a historical and integral component of this country, and no one can or wants to eliminate them,” he affirmed.

However, the LF leader explained that the main aim was to seek a way out of the prevailing tragedy that the country had been enduring “for months, and even years.”

“The main reason behind this tragedy lies in the incessant sharing of quotas at the level of the executive power, a thing which has led to the emergence of mini-states within the state, and eventually to governmental and institutional paralysis, not to mention the corruption that has prevailed and persisted within the state pending the French initiative which presented a proposal to form a rescue cabinet,” Geagea said.

He went on to say that due to the fact that Hezbollah and Amal Movement have always insisted on appointing their ministers and on assuming the finance portfolio, other parties have also clung to the portfolios they previously held. “This resulted in the repeated formation of a government similar to its predecessors, and which is now preventing us from forming a new and different government that is capable of salvaging the nation.”