The President of the Lebanese Orthodox Council, Robert Al-Abyad, congratulated the Lebanese people in a statement after the council's monthly meeting, on the arrival of vaccines against the Coronavirus, and urged them to "register on the platform to receive the vaccine," wishing that "we overcome this difficult phase with God’s help." He pointed out that "the Russian vaccine will arrive next month after we received it for free."
Al-Abyad expressed his astonishment at "the deliberate delay in forming the government," asking, "Is the reason for this a political vendetta from the Future Movement and its appointed president Saad Hariri against the Christian parties and political groups because they did not name him, and with the aim of undermining what remains of the presidential term?" He added: "We have learned to speak the truth no matter how difficult it may be. How can the appointed president claim to form a government alone without consulting the other half of the Lebanese people, namely the Christians, who no longer have trust in the appointed president's performance or wisdom?"
He remarked, "Isn't the appointed president aware of who granted him the nomination for the premiership? Isn't it the Amal Movement bloc that stipulates choosing its Shiite ministers, and the Progressive Socialist Party bloc that names its Druze ministers, while the Future Movement bloc, led by the appointed president Saad Hariri, names its Sunni ministers? Here, it is the right of the presidency to name the Christian ministers, as the presidential position represents all Christians in Lebanon."
He continued, "Enough wasting time in forming the government; we see that the appointed president is unable to form one today. His excuse for traveling and conducting shuttle visits to Arab and Western countries multiple times is merely an attempt to gain international confidence in a government that does not yet exist. Shouldn't he first seek the trust of the Lebanese people and the partners in the nation?"
He added, "The appointment of independent ministers by party leaders means that they are friends or supporters of these parties, so an independent government should start with its president chosen from civil society, just like the ministers."
He went on to ask, "We ask our brothers in the nation, the sons of the Sunni community, who are rich with educated figures known for their patriotism since Lebanon's independence, is there not a Sunni figure from respectable and independent families to represent the premiership?"
He addressed "the spiritual dignitaries and heads of sects to distance themselves from politics, to separate religion from the state, and to stop protecting presidents and all politicians and parties who have brought us to where we are now." He concluded: "Leave before dragging Lebanon into Chapter Seven and internationalization, leading us to lose Lebanon. We must work on a federal system, and that’s it."
