Following the public invitation of President Aoun to the protesters to meet with him, which he reiterated in his second televised speech, a group of protesters headed, on Friday, November 1st, to the Republican Palace in Baabda with a document of the now most urgent demand: The speeding of the formation of a new government.
Despite the president’s invitation, the road to the palace was blocked to the protesters, impeding them to proceed in meeting with the president. A demonstration was hence held by them on the highway, in the presence of the press.
They went on raising their banners that stated: “No Trust” and “Parliamentary Consultations Now” and their spokeswoman talked to the president through the televising press with the urgent demands.
On behalf of all the protesters in Lebanon, the spokeswoman demanded the speeding up of the binding parliamentary consultations necessary to form a new government, which is the constitutional steps that should follow the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday, hence all his government.
She stressed on the need to start quick parliamentary consultations to designate a neutral prime minister. Referring to the document in her hands, which they had intended to communicate to the president personally, the spokeswoman addressed President Aoun on TV with the following:
We quote:
“Mr. President Michel Aoun,”
“You asked to speak with the protesters, and we came to Baabda Palace to let you hear our voice. We were beaten in the squares, threatened, and intimidated, and none of the State staff moved to protect the demonstrators. We were accused of receiving money and yet none of you dared to press charges against any of us because your words are slanders.”
“Mr. President, you celebrated the third anniversary of your presidency yesterday with words and slogans echoed by all political parties, and nothing has been achieved, but [our] “All Mean All” continues with the approach of quotas, corruption, waste of public money, infringement on freedoms, looting, and starvation.”
“The government that fell, Mr. President, is not the government of Saad Hariri alone but is the first government of the Covenant and its fall is the fall of the entire system of corruption with all its sectarian and political recitals.”
“You held a speech yesterday and your speech confirms the magnitude of the separation and the rift that have existed between the authority and the people.”
“More than 48 hours have passed since the resignation of the government and you didn’t call yet on the ministers for binding parliamentary consultations; a clear procrastination, and disregard of the popular protests that began on 17 October in opposition to the policies of quotas, corruption, and waste of public funds, and to deny the extent of the crisis in which the country sits in.”
“Mr. President, you are procrastinating and this procrastination pours directly in the approach of quotas and side agreements outside the constitutional institutions that have strained the country, disrupted its institution,s and impoverished the people.”
“But the street has become more aware of the authority to preserve the constitutional institutions, and these people are the only red line in this country, and the source of power is the reference authority. The people said their word and have drawn a clear roadmap out of the crisis.”
“Therefore, we invite you to invite the deputies to a binding parliamentary consultation as soon as possible, and assign accordingly a prime minister to the government, who has the required qualities, who is to be from outside the political class and enjoys the trust of the people, and to be known for cleanliness and competence, within the deadline of Monday, November 4, 2019.”
“And then the President-designate to form a salvation government that includes male and female ministers with the same standards within a period of no more than two weeks away from the approach of quotas and the play on the narrow sectarian and partisan balances that led things to the level where we are now.”
“And to give the next government exceptional legislative powers to be able to issue legislative decrees in the field of finance, economy, living matters, the judiciary and the law of parliamentary elections and shorten the term of the House of Representatives.”
“The street will remain in the lookout to address any attempts to break this huge national consensus achieved in the homeland squares from the far north to the far south.”
Addressing the people of the revolution, the spokeswoman said, -we quote: “You, the women and men of the revolution, who declared from your full mouth of your commitment to citizenship and the homeland, and renounced the language of discrimination, which the parties of the Authority have always used as a weapon to disperse your ranks and tamper with the capabilities of the country and people, we call on you to be careful and cautious of which incites our clean revolution with sectarian traps.”
“The revolution continues to reconstitute power through early parliamentary elections that produce efficient and impartial power and establish the rule of law, and just institutions because only the people and society are the source of all power.
We are the great people of Lebanon and all the greetings to our glorious revolution. No trust, no negotiations, no quotas!”
In this regard, President Michel Aoun is set to hold binding consultations with MPs to appoint a new premier early next week after Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on the 13th day of the anti-government protests, meeting as such the demand of the protesters.
After the resignation of the government, President Aoun asked former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to stay on as caretaker prime minister pending formation of the new government.
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