So the US is imposing on us a policy that we cannot accept. And even if we do accept it ? and it would be shameful for us to do that ? we are unable to implement it because it puts us in a constant state of confrontation.

I ask all the Lebanese people ? whatever their religions and their parties- not to accept this plan and to refuse a presidency that comes in a pre-packed form with the aim of igniting national confrontation.

We have sacrificed everything for the sake of national unity and we are ready to sacrifice more.
We do not fear the use of the gun but we hate to use it. Who will we use it against, our own brothers and children? Such a situation is totally unacceptable.

So I call on the Lebanese people to reject the policy of the US because it is creating disunity among the Lebanese.

I would like to tell you an anecdote about how the Lebanese people view the American policy in Lebanon. Let?s imagine a presidential candidate seeking the support of the Americans. So they have one request from him, which is to disarm Hizbullah. So the candidate tells them ?it?s easy, we?ll send the internal security forces?, so they laugh because they know it is impossible. Then the candidate suggests sending the Lebanese army and they reply this was also impossible because the army had lost 170 soldiers in Nahr el Bared. So the candidate suggests soliciting the help of the UNIFIL troops but they tell him that this was also impossible because they are not here to wage a war but to issue reports. Then the candidate suggests seeking the help of the Israeli army and they tell him ?haven?t you learned anything from the July war.? Finally the candidate suggests the help of the US and they reply that the US has already got enough trouble to deal with in Iraq. So the candidate replies: ?then how am I supposed to disarm Hizbullah by myself.?

Consequently, he would be blowing up in the air all the political and material heritage his father has left him. So if he is influenced by some other parties, he has to know that his actions can have very dangerous repercussions.

I am proud of my past and I have never taken sides or entered into a conflict supporting one Lebanese party against the other. Today, we will not side with one group against the other neither implicitly nor explicitly.

Today, MP Saad Hariri declared that his group doesn?t support me because I have an understanding with Hizbullah. I see this to be a declaration of enmity not against me but against Hizbullah.
I have declared previously that that national unity is a priority over presidency. This is why I urge MP Hariri to save the national unity and thus safeguard the republic, because if there is no national unity, then there is no republic. MP Hariri is the first one to be affected from any action that undermines stability in Lebanon. The damage that I incur is moral because I do not have material interests, but I would feel that my biggest dream for Lebanon is being shattered, but his damage is both material and moral.

Any attempt to isolate the Shiite community will ignite the destabilization of Lebanon thus leading it into the unknown. As such, it is not the fact of failing to elect a president that will lead the country into the unknown but it is the election of a confrontational president that will is certain to do that. All the parties rule out the possibility of the confrontation with Hizbullah but attempts to gradually undermine Hizbullah will have serious setbacks similar to any isolation. But no one is
dupe nowadays and people will not wait until their last breath to start fighting back.

The issue is more complex that it seems. Lists of candidates are non proportionate as they are putting people who are of much more significant weight than others at the same level in a bid to find a way to bring in the least of all. This is a fraudulent attempt to circumvent democracy. Thus we demand the implementation of real democracy and we will not provide the quorum and even if the two thirds are guaranteed, we will not provide any cover to a president that is not accepted by all the Lebanese parties.

And the second option remains plausible even if not necessarily in accordance with the Constitution.
We urge the Patriarch not to feel compelled to name a candidate and thus feel responsible for any catastrophe that is said to happen it he doesn?t because the catastrophe will happen only with the election of a president on whom the Lebanese people have not agreed; and this should not be allowed happen.
When I found it impossible for me to receive the support of the Future Movement, I suggested any candidate on condition that he agrees with Hizbullah on a solution. And one must not forget that there cannot be any president of the republic without the approval of the Shiite community. And in this context, I warn all the deputies of the Parliament ? especially the MPs of the Future Movement ? against the election of a president ? even with the two thirds ? without the consent of a major part of the Lebanese population, the Shiite community.