Rahi: Lebanon’s Constitution Written to be Implemented, not to be Cause of Tension

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. Reuters file photo
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. Reuters file photo
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Rahi: Lebanon’s Constitution Written to be Implemented, not to be Cause of Tension

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. Reuters file photo
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi. Reuters file photo

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed Sunday that the Lebanese Constitution was written to be respected by officials and not to become a source of tension.

“The Constitution has been created to be implemented and not to be a cause of dispute,” he said during Sunday’s mass service in Bkirki.

It was also written “to be a source of agreement and not a source of disagreement.”

His statement came in light of a recent political dispute between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on the President’s role in forming the new government.

Aoun says the President has a constitutional right to approve the names of the proposed ministers before signing its decree, while Hariri accuses the President of rejecting, without any explanation, the lineups he has been presenting him.

Rahi reminded politicians of "Article D" of the Constitution, saying the people are the source of authority and sovereignty and therefore, shall exercise these powers through the constitutional institutions.

“Don’t you fear God, the people and the court of conscience and history? How can unyielding political positions - that are destructive for the state as an entity and constitutional institutions - persist and under what national conscience and under what justification?”

The Patriarch also criticized Lebanese politicians for not forming a new government amidst daily social, economic, financial and living crises.

“Why don’t you form a cabinet while the financial and economic crisis has reached its peak, the economy is collapsing and agricultural products are damaged? Why don’t you form a government while the people are standing at the doors of banks begging for their money and they don’t find it?” he asked.

Rahi’s rhetoric against political figures came amid ongoing bickering between different factions on the cabinet formation.

On Sunday, head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Bahia Hariri defended the PM-designate for sparing no efforts to form a new government of technocrats capable of stopping the economic collapse.

In return, Cesar Abi Khalil, an MP with the Free Patriotic Movement, led by Aoun’s son-in-law lawmaker Gebran Bassil, said the President would not resign.

He also accused Hariri of “being indifferent towards the cabinet formation process” and of “presenting to the President a government lineup that does not respect the Constitution.”



Suspected US Airstrikes in Yemen Kill at Least 4 People Near Hodeidah

A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Suspected US Airstrikes in Yemen Kill at Least 4 People Near Hodeidah

A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A man holds a rifle as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Suspected US airstrikes battered Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into Wednesday, with the militias saying that one strike killed at least four people near the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The intense campaign of airstrikes in Yemen under US President Donald Trump, targeting the militias over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, has killed at least 65 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis.

The campaign appears to show no signs of stopping as the Trump administration again linked their airstrikes on the Iranian-backed Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. While so far giving no specifics about the campaign and its targets, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put the overall number of strikes on Tuesday at more than 200.

“Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks, and we have seen they have taken out Houthi leaders,” Leavitt said. “They’ve taken out critical members who were launching strikes on naval ships and on commercial vessels and this operation will not stop until the freedom of navigation in this region is restored.”

Overnight, a likely US airstrike targeted what the Houthis described as a “water project” in Hodeidah governorate's Mansuriyah District, killing four people and wounding others. Other strikes into Wednesday targeted Hajjah, Saada and Sanaa governorates, the militias said.