Opposition parties and forces launched a rescue initiative and called on revolution groups: To form the broadest political front to run in parliamentary elections with unified lists

They stressed that the initiative starts with the formation of a transitional rescue mini-cabinet, independent of the ruling system's parties, vested with specific exceptional legislative powers, that adopts a rescue program of 9 items. They also underlined that the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections should constitute the cornerstone for rebuilding the state of law.

The participants called on various forces of change and revolution groups, which share the same goal, to close ranks and work together to form the widest political opposition front that will establish a balance of political and popular forces to confront the ruling system and set up a political program that expresses the aspirations of all the Lebanese, and a joint plan to run in parliamentary elections with unified opposition lists.

Read the full statement below:

Dear Lebanese citizens, journalists, and distinguished audience,

13 April 1975 was an ominous day in the modern history of Lebanon. Most of those who have held their grip on power from thirty years until today, are the same ones who led that civil war for fifteen years and turned Lebanon into a battleground. The toll of their crimes was one hundred and fifty thousand victims, thousands of wounded and displaced citizens, as well as destruction and devastation that spared no region in Lebanon. Moreover, to this day, the fate of four thousand missing people in that unfortunate war has not been revealed.

 
Dear Lebanese citizens,

We are not recalling here the disasters of war with the aim of reopening old wounds, but rather to say that what is afflicting our people today, including assassinations, explosion of the port, death at the doors of hospitals, displacement, emigration, unemployment, hunger, humiliation, abuse of dignity, bankruptcy of the state, theft of depositors' money, and the loss of political and social security are due to the actions of the same ruling system, whose pillars moved from behind street barricades to the governing table barricades. They then divided among them and shared power based on quotas, and became dependent on foreign powers, while some of them established the statelet within the state, and they are all continuing today their wars against the people and the nation, in different forms.

Distinguished audience,

Today, we are faced with a difficult governance crisis with a condemned ruling system that has lost any sense of responsibility and is about to transform the governance crisis into a crisis that threatens the fate of the nation and the Lebanese entity. That is why we, opposition and revolutionary forces from various Lebanese governorates, have decided to gather not to complain about the country’s current conditions of deteriorating and tragic financial, economic, social, and security conditions, which every citizen is experiencing, but we are rather motivated by our national responsibility to launch a rescue initiative that lifts the country from its crisis after losing all bets on the corrupt regime's factions to implement reform, and to prevent them from dragging the country into a new April 13 civil war. The Latin phrase “You cannot give what you do not have” perfectly applies to this ruling system, and those who were behind the destruction can never be relied upon in the reconstruction. All of them means all of them! Our urgent rescue initiative is based on the following:

• First: Form a transitional rescue mini-cabinet, independent of the ruling system's parties, vested with specific exceptional legislative powers, for a period not exceeding the date of the next parliamentary elections in May 2022.

• Second: This government should implement the following rescue program:
• Adopt a comprehensive financial reform plan that ensures a fair distribution of losses, protects the middle classes and the most vulnerable to poverty, restores confidence in the economy, limits the deterioration of the Lebanese pound, approves the law of restrictions on transfers to preserve the remaining hard currency, restructures the public debt and the banking sector, and makes the necessary agreements with the IMF and donor countries, in order to provide the necessary conditions to secure liquidity in hard currency as soon as possible and to revive the financial and economic situation.
• Strengthen the state treasury by stopping squandering and corruption streams, cancel all councils and attach those that are necessary to relevant ministries, combat tax and customs evasion, and put an end to cross-border smuggling. Start to reform the sectors that drain the state treasury, primarily the electricity sector, and to restore its lost rights in marine, river, and public properties.
• Strengthen the social safety net to guarantee the protection of the entire society, ensuring alternatives to the current subsidy policies, and exclude public education, government hospitals, and other vital services, from any austerity policies.
• Hold the political class accountable based on the Illicit Enrichment Law, and strive to recover all the stolen money in cooperation with friendly countries, if necessary.
• Adopt the Judicial Judiciary’s Independence Law and the Administrative Judiciary’s Independence Law. Support and push forward the investigation into the Beirut port crime, to uncover the full causes of the crime and hold those responsible accountable.
• Initiate the forensic audit in all state institutions, starting with the Banque du Liban, and determine the responsibilities for the financial collapse to demand accountability. Bolster and support all oversight bodies, and strengthen their independence.
• Immediately enact a law for parties that regulates their work and financing, cuts their external links, and compels them to declare in a fully transparent and documented way their sources of funding, which should be limited exclusively to Lebanese citizens.
• Establish a body, that is independent of the political authority and of the candidates, to manage and supervise the elections, and reconsider everything related to the administrative aspects in the election law.
• Take necessary measures to ensure that parliamentary and municipal elections are held on their constitutional dates without any delay.

• Third: The outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections should constitute the cornerstone for rebuilding the state of law and the sovereign, fair, and democratic civil institutions, liberating defense and foreign policy from sectarian restrictions and regional axes, and limiting them to the decision-making process of constitutional institutions elected by the will of the people. Therefore, any weapon will exclusively be in the hands and under the command of the Lebanese state and its army. Impose the full sovereignty of the state on Lebanese lands without any exception, and to carry out its duties in establishing the rule of law, in providing the safety of all citizens, and in protecting the borders.

Distinguished audience,

We are launching this rescue initiative and are simultaneously calling on all forces of change and revolution groups, which share this same goal, to close ranks and work together to form the widest political opposition front that will establish a balance of political and popular forces to confront the ruling system, set up a political program that reflects the aspirations of all the Lebanese, and develop a joint plan to run in parliamentary elections with unified opposition lists.

Dear citizens,

There is no time for procrastination and delay, the overwhelming majority of our people started feeling the hunger, and the country's fate is at stake, but we have a great faith in our ability to create an actual change. We have to change without hesitation after the October 17 revolution removed the popular legitimacy from the ruling authority, which had also been subject to condemnations and insults from neighbors and friends. Based on that, we call on the Lebanese people to deal with this criminal system, with its six heads, as an opponent that confiscates the will of the people and occupies its resources.

Let us all gather in a peaceful popular and civil resistance to overthrow it. We call on the supporters of the ruling system’s parties to join the ranks of the revolution. We share the same pain, poverty, and security, which are neither sectarian nor religious. It is almost the moment of change, to join hands and build the state of democratic, civil, sovereign, and just citizenship state.

The revolution draws closer to victory.

Long live the people

Long live Lebanon

Each of the following parties and forces participated in the press conference: The National Bloc, People's Observatory Against Corruption (Marsad Shaabi), Tahalof Watani, Beirut Madinati, Minteshreen, Youth of October 17, STREET, Thuwar Beirut, Zgharta Al Zawiya, Zahleh Tantafed, Liqaa Al Bekaa Al Thawri, Shabeb Trablous, Naqabiyoun Ahrar, Homat Al Dustur, Watani Haweyati, and Thawrat Lebnen.