Guardians of the Cedars - National Lebanese Movement
Central Directorate.

        Commenting on the projected municipal and "Mukhtar" elections that are now in the limelight, the Guardians of the Cedars-National Lebanese Movement issued the following communiqué:

        In an attempt to distract the people from the drastic political and economic situation of the country, the Taef gang decided to launch municipal and mukhtar elections and called upon the youth to participate massively, claiming that it may be the inauguration of the new deal which all the Lebanese desire.

        Unfortunately, this subterfuge has fooled some of the Opposition parties and personalities, and led them to participate in these elections, and are now actively preparing their campaigns.

        Our Party, along with the genuine Opposition, believes that the proper line of action lies in the pursuit of the boycott of the Taef government on all levels and, consequently, to refrain from the participation in these elections, in accordance with the firm decisions which the Party has announced and abided by since the rise of the Taef regime, to wit:

1. The genuine Opposition does not and will not recognize this regime nor its leaders, because it still considers that it has usurped powering of an enemy power, namely the Syria, expelled the legal representatives of the people, rigged the Constitution, violated the sovereignty, sold out the nation and transferred the political decision to Damascus.
2. The genuine political forces consider therefore that any decision that emanates or will emanate from the Taef regime is invalid, and any collaboration with this renegade regime constitutes an open recognition and is condemnable and unacceptable.
3. These elections, if carried out under the present occupation will be akin to the parliamentary elections held in 1992 and 1996, in which the government rollers smoothed out the opposition to suit Syrian specifications and these rollers are still ready to tame both the electors and the candidates.
4. The genuine political forces consider that the first priority of political action should remain concentrated on the liberation of the land from Syrian colonialism before turning to anything else. They also consider that any distraction from this colonialism which is choking the nation is a dangerous link in the chain of plots against Lebanon.

For these reasons, the Party calls upon its adherents and its allies not to participate in this distraction plot and to continue the boycott of this renegade regime and to concentrate all efforts to evict it and replace it by one that benefits of the trust of the people and of constitutional legality.

We are sorry to say that the lukewarm resistance to the Syrian colonialism and its local stooges is mainly responsible for its establishment in Lebanon and its longevity.

At the service of Lebanon,

The Chief,
Etienne Sacre,

Lebanon