As per the request of President Michel Aoun, a seemingly crucial national meeting is set to take place in Baabda next Thursday, June 25th, as long as the invitees decide to show up.
The Lebanese Presidency has sent out written invitations to the Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, and Deputy Speaker of Parliament, in addition to the former presidents and prime ministers of Lebanon, the heads of the parties, and the parliamentary blocs.
For the Thursday meeting to materialize, however, it requires the above to accept the invitation and show up. And this part, as it seems, has not been going very smoothly so far.
Reportedly, the former prime ministers, who represent a significant part of the meeting, seem unsure of its real objectives.
The Presidency said that the aim of the meeting is for all political parties, friends or foes, to come together and discuss Lebanon’s unsettling political conditions in an attempt to “protect [its] stability and civil peace.”
Moreover, it seeks to avoid slipping into insecurity, the consequences of which “may be dire and destructive to the homeland,” especially in light of “the economic, financial, and social conditions that Lebanon has never seen before.”
Despite that, the former prime ministers have made it clear that after seeing the performance of the Presidency and the government thus far, they do not intend to support or cover up for their mistakes and inaction.
They are, in other words, not ready to “whiten” anyone’s page at the expense of constitutional principles, as Lebanon24 reported.
With that said, the former PMs have declared that they will boycott the meeting unless a satisfying answer to their question regarding its point is provided by this weekend.
On that note, some party/bloc leaders have stood on the former PMs’ side and voiced a similar opinion regarding the national meeting.
On the popular stage, there have been numerous calls over the past days for a Baabda demonstration on June 25th to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and President Michel Aoun, in addition to other reformational demands.
That is if the invited officials don’t stop the meeting before it starts.
