President of the National Dialogue Party, MP Fouad Makhzoumi, visited the Grand Mufti of the Republic, His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, at Dar Al-Fatwa, accompanied by Engineer Ibrahim Zaidan, Executive Deputy Chairman of the Party’s Administrative Board; former Ambassador Dr. Bassam Naamani; Makhzoumi Foundation Director General Samer Safah; and Marketing Director Marwan Sabban. They discussed matters concerning Dar Al-Fatwa and the general situation in the country.
Makhzoumi said the visit was to congratulate His Eminence on the occasion of the Hijri New Year. He expressed his hope that it would be a year of goodness and peace for the people of Lebanon and throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds. He also hoped that, during the coming year, the Lebanese would be provided with the bare necessities of life, including food, electricity, and medicine, not to mention a state that protects its citizens rather than functioning as a “shop” serving its own private interests.
Regarding decisions of war and peace, Makhzoumi asked how Lebanon could seek assistance from Arab countries when certain parties had turned the country into an arena available on demand for regional projects that place Lebanon in confrontation with the Israeli enemy.
As for Thursday’s parliamentary session concerning immunities, Makhzoumi asked whether it was reasonable that, more than a year after the catastrophe that struck Beirut and its port—killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and forcing more than 70,000 people from their homes—some MPs in a Parliament that is supposed to represent the people and their aspirations would sign what he called a “petition of shame” to obstruct the investigation and conceal the truth.
He said that, rather than supporting Judge Tarek Bitar, these MPs should be calling for the parliamentary session that he had repeatedly requested in accordance with Article 40 of the Constitution. He noted that the article clearly states: “During a session of Parliament, no criminal proceedings may be taken against any member of Parliament, nor may any member be arrested for committing a criminal offense without the authorization of Parliament, except in cases where the crime is committed in flagrante delicto.”
Makhzoumi confirmed that he would boycott Thursday’s session, calling on all fellow MPs who believed they represented the Lebanese people and wanted the truth to do the same. He explained that the session could fail to reach a quorum if fewer than 59 MPs were present.
He concluded by saying that it was clear the current political establishment did not want a government and, if a government were formed, it wanted to maintain control over it in order to conceal the truth about what happened on the tragic day of August 4.
Addressing the political establishment, he declared: “Enough of playing games with the lives of our people and our children.”
