Salam stresses need for reform and 'regaining war and peace decisions'

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has noted that his government’s top priorities are reform and “the state’s regaining of the war and peace decisions.”

“The state should monopolize arms and it has a duty to extend its authority across its territory with its own forces, as stipulated by the Taif Agreement,” Salam said at an iftar banquet at the Grand Serail.

“The continuation of the Israeli occupation of sites in our south represents an attack on our sovereignty and territorial integrity and a violation of Resolution 1701, to which we are fully committed and are implementing. It is also a breach of the cessation of hostilities arrangements that were approved by the previous government in November,” Salam added.

“In the face of that, we are continuing the deployment of our national army, enhancing our cooperation with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and boosting our political and diplomatic efforts to rally Arab and international support to press Israel to withdraw from the rest of Lebanese land,” the PM explained.

He also called for the rise of an independent judicial authority, protecting the judiciary from political interference, finding a fair solution for the depositors’ crisis, restructuring the banking sector, moving to a state of citizenship and renegotiating with the International Monetary Fund.