Ziad al-Makari, the caretaker minister of information, emphasized that “media can battle the sickness of sectarianism that undermines the idea of a civilized and diversified nation in this East.”

Minister al-Makari stated in his first interview with the Egyptian media that “weakness and backwardness in this difficult circumstance that Lebanon is going through, rise to the point of dereliction of duty towards our beloved country,” so I feel the necessity of facing challenges and solving difficulties to reach the path of political and economic recovery and Lebanon’s return to the era of prosperity and openness.

In response to a question, he said that from day one he had set a major goal, which is to preserve the great legacy left by the Lebanese media and its creative imprint, and to confirm the basic principles by preserving freedom of expression and protecting the press and journalists.

The minister pointed out that “the peoples of the Arab world are united by the bonds of a single civilization and the authentic Arabic language.”

“The Lebanese citizen cannot help but feel the warmth of the relationship with the authentic Egypt since the cradle of humanity until today, and as a specialist in architecture, this country is an inspiration for a very creative architectural identity. Egypt is very charming and its people are great and have noble human values,” he said.

“At the media level, I am very happy with the cooperation and coordination with the Egyptian side in various fields, and I would like to develop frameworks and conclude agreements with official media institutions and exchange experiences between our two countries,” the minister added.

“The great achievements that Egypt has done recently through President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s planning and pioneering vision that pushes Lebanon to be affected by it and try to overcome difficulties through a similar vision, determination, and will… What Egypt is witnessing currently, is a glimmer of hope for Lebanon and the Lebanese, and we hope to develop relations in various fields.”

On the role of the media in changing society, he said: “This is a fundamental and necessary matter, and the role of the media is to raise awareness in society and advance it for the better, and the process of development and change must start from the nucleus of society… On the other hand, we rely on the media to launch a comprehensive national dialogue, especially after Lebanon was hit by a severe crisis, we are reaping its repercussions.”