Maronite General Council Dean, Former Minister Wadih al-Khazen, warned in a statement today that “if the parties do not adopt a sentimental stance to give priority to the national interest over political interests, then it would be in vain to agree on a reform government to save the country from this confusion of responsibilities at the level of lifting the country out of the furnace of strife and sedition.”

He added: “If regional and international factors are effective in this regard, and their understandings over the regional basket have not yet matured, then it is necessary for us to take the initiative before drowning in the expected deadlines, otherwise Lebanon will have impeded itself by failing to meet the government formation goal.”

Al-Khazen emphasized the need to neutralize Lebanon’s problems from the impact of surrounding events, in order to ensure its salvation and keep away the risk of vacuum that would allow for imposed solutions and disrupt the spirit of national pact and coexistence.

He concluded by warning against “the wrath of the people who will not remain idle, and may be united by the cry of hunger and oppression.”