The Lebanon Strong Bloc held its regular meeting chaired by MP Gibran Bassil, during which it discussed its agenda and issued the following statement:
1. The bloc reaffirms the necessity for the caretaker government to fully adhere to the constitution by limiting its powers to the narrow definition of caretaker duties, which means refraining from convening cabinet sessions and taking any other unconstitutional actions. The bloc warns against any tendency to consider operational aspects of the state in the absence of a President of the Republic, considering this, if it occurs, as a form of normalizing abnormality and prolonging the constitutional vacuum. Therefore, the bloc specifies its refusal of any attempt to grant the caretaker government presidential powers by proxy. The bloc emphasizes that during the last legislative session, the Parliament confirmed that the caretaker government cannot exercise the powers of the President of the Republic by proxy, and the caretaker Prime Minister declared his commitment to this during the mentioned session.
2. The bloc considers the recent attack on the youth and students of the Free Patriotic Movement at the MTV station and the subsequent politically motivated statements and media conduct of the station as clear indications of intent to renew a systematic campaign of distortion against the movement and to demonize it, portraying it as an armed militia while it is a movement committed to legality and the state of institutions and law. The bloc warns those concerned that those who have stood firm in the most challenging circumstances will not succumb to blackmail or threats, and that the conditions for reproducing the situation of October 17 are not available concerning targeting a sovereign movement entrusted with a project and path led by President Michel Aoun. The bloc calls on parties working to put the movement against the Lebanese Army to cease, as confrontation is impossible and will not happen between the army and the movement that stems from this institution, which will remain a stronghold of the homeland and a guarantor of its unity, independence, and sovereignty. In any case, the bloc demands the station expedite the broadcast of recordings that reveal the facts and not hide behind any flimsy excuses to obscure them, and it awaits the outcome of the file that has become under the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor, calling for necessary investigations, accountability of the perpetrators, and asserting that it will not accept any form of cover-up of the case; otherwise, suspicions will grow regarding the existence of a conspiracy orchestrated by parties that will not remain unknown to anyone.
3. The bloc considers that it is doing everything necessary to facilitate the election of a President of the Republic according to covenant standards. If searching for the best candidate for this stage requires dialogue, communication, and serious discussion among blocs, then the bloc is not willing to participate in any attempts to waste time serving the interests of any party for populist goals. The bloc emphasizes that voting with a blank ballot was and continues to be aimed at opening the door for consensus, not cementing paralysis. Furthermore, the bloc is not inclined to engage in the marketplace of name-burning; thus, parliamentary blocs are invited to meet us halfway and respond to the list of presidential priorities that we brought to them, thereby specifying the names of candidates who can embody through their personality, behavior, and history what we expect from those we wish to see occupy the highest position in the state.
