Pakradouni pledges reform, reconciliation
Karim Pakradouni pledged Monday during the first Phalange Party politburo meeting since
his taking office that he would focus on “correction, reform and
reconciliation.”
The party’s president also pledged to precede every politburo meeting with a question
and answer session with the media, and said he would submit a party reform document within
the first 100 days of his tenure, which began April 29.
In discussing the country’s political situation, Pakradouni said domestic politics
were “afflicted by structural defects” that have a negative impact on the
country’s political, economic, social and cultural sectors.
The defects, he added, were illustrated in the “inadequate political representation
of the Christian community in this country.” He said the new Phalange leadership was
determined to “correct this flaw.”
Pakradouni called for halting the boycott of elections, as was the case in previous polls.
He also called for a government reshuffle “aimed at pulling the present government
out of its crisis.”
“We are calling for a national unity government that represents all parties and
political groups,” Pakradouni said.
He added that the party needed “a reform charter,” which he said was in the
making. Pakradouni said that while the charter was under preparation, the party has
decided to make its presence felt especially with leading issues like privatization,
“which has led to a fierce dispute within the government.”
He also expressed strong opposition to the privatization of key state-owned facilities.
“It is quite obvious that privatizing facilities were aimed at making money for the
Treasury not to private individuals,” Pakradouni said. He expressed fear that the
state could end up “without any property,” and said any official with vested
interests in the process should resign from office and “devote himself to his private
interests.”
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