The Maronite Patriarchate seeks reconciliation encounters between the parties “by batches”

The Maronite Patriarchate, which recently became active in its call for “the neutrality of Lebanon” and illegal disarmament, remains active in the line of reconciliation between Christian parties, with an expected invitation to an extended meeting at its headquarters in Bkerke. .
Not all the formulas recently proposed by the Patriarchate to reconcile the “Free Patriotic Movement” and “the Lebanese Forces”, after the great confusion between them a few weeks ago in the Mirna Chalouhi area in Beirut, be it the bilateral meeting between the two directions or the proposal of an extended Maronite encounter.
It seems that Bkerke is promoting a “national meeting” to resolve the current crisis without linking it to his recent call to declare the “neutrality of Lebanon”, knowing that this principle does not find local consensus, especially after Hezbollah came out to correct it. . Patriarchal Attorney General Archbishop Samir Mazloum says “opinions were gathered on an invitation to meet in Bkerke, the nature of which was not determined and the people invited to it.” However, the head of the “forces”, Samir Geagea, “did not answer him.”
Mazloum added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Patriarchate hopes and seeks to unite the Lebanese and unify the word so that they share solving problems and overcoming tragedies, but the atmosphere is not always helpful and requires the formation of new convictions among the functionaries”. However, he emphasized that “the efforts continue and the call is still in force, although there are no specific dates,” considering that any meeting “does not mean bringing together all national forces at the same time, but that lots can be obtained,” explaining that the meetings in which it is working “are not linked to the neutrality defended by the Patriarch (Bechara Al-Rai), but to reconcile the Lebanese and bring points of view and ideas closer to the resolution of the current crisis, noting that when this is achieved, we will also be close to achieving neutrality.
According to a leading source from the “Lebanese Forces”, Bkerke expressed his desire to hold a bilateral meeting in the first stage between the leadership of the “forces” and “the movement”, provided that it was expanded in a second stage to include the Maronite representatives, but “the answer was not to seek any benefit or viability of the two formulas”, for two main reasons; The first is that the nature of the current Lebanese crisis is financial. There is no point in meeting with a Christian to face a crisis that affects all Lebanese without exception. The second reason is that the neutrality initiative launched by the Patriarch and fully supported by him has a national incubator, so it will not be feasible to reduce it to a Christian framework ”.
The source confirmed to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that “there are no tensions with the (Free Patriotic Movement), considering that what happened in Mirna Al-Shalouhi is a secondary accident that has been left behind.” He highlighted, “The existence of a very close, exceptional and transparent relationship with the Patriarch, so we are in constant and continuous contact with him. However, we do not see at the current stage that the priority is to meet a Christian before the great national crisis that demands concerted efforts and the formation of a government independent of the political forces, followed by early parliamentary elections. ” .
On the other hand, a member of the “Strong Lebanon” bloc, Alain Aoun, explained that “there was no invitation in the real sense to be answered or rejected, but there was contact with Bkerke through a representative delegation of the bloc, and then some contacts in the context of the incident in Mirna. Shalouhi between (the current) and (the forces) ». He assured “Asharq Al-Awsat” that he will respond to Bkerke’s calls: “We are not afraid or refuse to meet anyone, and it is not the first and last time that transgressions, problems and offenses occur, and then they are carried out. meetings “. The important thing is to consider the error and close the page of violent confrontations forever, and keep any differences within the framework of the multiplicity of positions and political options.
He stressed that “(the forces) are free in their position, and we are not in the position of a student to come together to refuse to receive us.” Your problem is with who offered you that, if the topic is correct. In the end, the divergence today is political and does not only concern Christians. (The Forces) chose to confront (the Pact) in the political sense after the collapse of the agreement (between President Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea). However, institutional lines of communication continue to exist, especially within Parliament, where we can meet on many of the files and issues raised without political divergence being a barrier to that. ».
He denied there was a problem with Bkerke about her recent proposals, saying: “We are in dialogue with her on everything she proposes, and we meet with her on many issues, and discrepancies may occur on other issues, but it is still a great national benchmark that we respect and appreciate ”.
Today, the “Lebanese Falange” appears in the closest place to Bkerke, after the Patriarch welcomed the resignation step of his deputies, as well as other independent deputies. In this context, the representative of the recently resigned “Kataeb”, Elias Hanash, says: “We finally responded to the Patriarch’s call for a meeting of the resigned representatives, and we spoke in depth about the crisis,” noting that the Patriarch “praised our step. of resignation, and called to the rest of representatives to do the same “. He added to “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” that the “brigades” have come to the conviction that “it is impossible to make any break in the crisis wall except with the resignation of the current parliament, on the basis that all the authorities emanate Parliament, otherwise it will remain so dominated and suspended. “