President's Welcome
Beirut, September 9 1997
This is a message from the President of the National Liberal Party Dory Chamoun to all party members and friends on the occasion of the 39th Anniversary of the Party.
Dear Friends and Members,
On this day, September 9th 1958, our party was founded to serve Lebanon by propagating the liberal and democratic principles which guided the policy of our founder Camille Nemr Chamoun.
Our Primary task at the time, was to defend Lebanon against the onslaught of Nasserite expansionism and the threats of his allies from the Eastern Bloc whose ideologies were worlds away from our liberal principles. We later had to face the much more dangerous onslaught of the Palestinians and their allies, and today we are still standing up to defend the double occupation of Lebanese soil. Despite all odds, we are preserving in our struggle for Lebanon's independence and sovereignty, we shall continue to follow the same path as Camille and Danny Chamoun, until Lebanon becomes, at the advent of the third millennium a country worthy of our children and the generations to come.
The general state of the country does not call for much celebration, the south of Lebanon is burning, our land is occupied, our government is a tool in the hands of foreigners, our parliament is appointed and not elected, our legal system is rotting with bribery and corruption, our democracy is ceding to autocracy, our economy is in debt beyond all means of repayment and the majority of the population lives on the verge of poverty. In fact Lebanon is a country where the government is completely divorced from the population. Yet we still feel that we, the National Liberals , have cause to celebrate this date. To celebrate the fact that we have never wavered in our national behaviour and to celebrate the memory of all Party members and other valiant Lebanese who died on the altar of national sacrifice.
What better way is there to celebrate the anniversary or a modern and progressive Party than to utilise the latest technique in communication by sending this message on the Web. Our aim is to share our thoughts and ideas with all those who love Lebanon as we do, and in this respect I would also like to add to this message our Email address which is: ahrar@ahrar.org.lb
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I sincerely hope and am in fact sure, that by this time next year we shall have many more reasons to celebrate. So keep your chins up and pray God to unite all Lebanese of good will in their endeavour to free Lebanon.