The Minister of Information in the caretaker government, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, indicated that “there is a constitution, unfortunately, that protects and places immunities on politicians, the aim of which was to protect every politician with a certain political orientation and inclination, to prevent him from being held accountable for his positions, but the immunity must be lifted in front of a crime Like the explosion of the port of Beirut.”
In a television interview for the “Confrontation” program on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), Abdel Samad pointed out that she resigned from the government “after 5 days of the port explosion, because I felt that we were in front of the national responsibility, we could not sit on our chairs and the truth had not yet emerged,” considering that “ The resignations facilitate the work of the judiciary to follow up the investigation, because every person who resigns has his immunity lifted.”
She stressed that “no right dies behind demands. There is determination, and if we continue to monitor, follow up and record our positions, we will reach the truth, and we must not rush and anticipate the court’s ruling to say that it is fair or unfair.” And she considered that “the slogan “all of them means all” oppresses the people and encourages the bully to persist, and the people are present in all administrations.”
Regarding her briefing on the investigations into the explosion of the port, Abdel Samad stated that she does not interfere “in a ministerial capacity, but I follow within a social media framework only, and there are some things that frustrate the suffering and the families of the victims, whether in the positions related to the investigation or their demands, but I invite them to continue.”
She pointed out that on the anniversary of the explosion, “they will light candles in the ministry, on the day of solidarity and national mourning, because we were there with the work team when the explosion occurred.” And she continued: “Today, we are interested in pointing our fingers at the right place and moving in the right place. This issue is a humanitarian issue and an issue of justice, which is demanded by all peoples.”
In parallel, Abdel Samad expressed her conviction of “the decisions that she took, even at the level of the government. I appreciate the choice of caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab for me as Minister of Information,” explaining that “the government was effective in the first six months, after which we started working in the form of ministries. My positions were recorded in the sessions, and I was sometimes defending decisions that I opposed in the session.”
Source: Ministry of Information, Lebanon