“Lebanon Debate”
Today, August 17, marks the anniversary of the election of Suleiman Franjieh as President of the Lebanese Republic in 1970, an occasion commemorated by the Marada Movement, recalling an electoral station that the participants described as having two democratic and Lebanese dimensions, and affirming adherence to the national constants that marked the path of the late president and the slogan “My country is always right.”
On the occasion, Representative Tony Franjieh wrote on the “X” platform: “My country is always right,” in reference to the anniversary of the election of President Suleiman Franjieh as President of the Republic.
In turn, the coordinator of the Political Committee in Marada, former Minister Youssef Saadeh, said on the anniversary of the election of President Suleiman Franjieh: “August 17 is not only the anniversary of the only democratic election in Lebanon, but it is also the only time that the Lebanese of all their sects and sects and the overwhelming majority of their towns and cities celebrated his election.”
Saadeh added: “He is the president who believes until the last breath in his national convictions and principles and his slogan, ‘My country is always right.’”
For his part, former Minister Roni Araiji said: “On the anniversary of the election of the late President Suleiman Franjieh as President of the Lebanese Republic, we recall a man who left his mark on the history of Lebanon, not only through the position he occupied, but through his positions, principles, and wisdom that remained present in the national memory.”
Araiji concluded by saying: “May God have mercy on President Suleiman Franjieh, who, despite the passage of years, remains present in the minds of those who knew him, and in the memory of a nation that has always believed that it deserves to be defended and adhered to.”
Vera Yammine, a member of the Political Bureau of the Marada Movement, also wrote on the “X” platform: “August 17, 1970, when Lebanon celebrated the wedding of democracy and dedicated a distinctive country in its surroundings. A memory that will remain vibrant, and may it not remain an orphan,” accompanying her post with the hashtag “# Anniversary of the Election of President Franjieh.”
Under the hashtag “#My_National_is_Always_Right,” lawyer Suleiman Franjieh wrote: “August 17, 1970 is almost the only date on which the Lebanese Parliament spoke “in the Lebanese” outside of the canned settlements. History is merciless and the crowded archive is the master of speech, especially when it comes to national issues that the “Marada” has not and will not bargain over, and considers them a red line in any political discussion.”
