PRIME MINISTER'S STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE ON DEATH OF
LEBANESE PRESIDENT RENE MUAWAD
23 November 1989
MR SPEAKER, I SEEK LEAVE TO MAKE A STATEMENT TO THE
HOUSE. HONOURABLE MEMBERS WILL BE AWARE OF THE TRAGIC EVENTS
WHICH HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN LEBANON OVERNIGHT WITH THE
BRUTAL ASSASSINATION OF THE NEWLY ELECTED LEBANESE
PRESIDENT, MR RENE MUAWAD, AND THE DEATH OF AT LEAST
TWENTY OTHERS.
ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA, AND
ON BAHAIF OF ALL MEMBERS OF THIS PARLIAMENT, I EXTEND MY
DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO MR MUAWAD'S WIFE AND FAMILY AND TO
THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO WERE KILLED WITH HIM. THE
FACT THAT THIS BRUTAL MURDER TOOK PLACE ON LEBANON'S
NATIONAL DAY ONLY HEIGHTENS OUR SENSE OF OUTRAGE AT SUCH
A CALLOUS ACT.
MR MUAWAD'S DEATH COMES A MERE SEVENTEEN DAYS AFTER HIS
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT AT A SESSION OF THE LEBANESE
PARLIAMENT. THAT SAME SESSION OF PARLIAMENT ALSO
RATIFIED THE AGREEMENT OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION
REACHED AT TAIF IN SAUDI ARABIA BY A MEETING OF LEBANESE
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
THE TAIF AGREEMENT WAS SEEN AS A HISTORIC BREAK-THROUGH
IN THE SEARCH FOR A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT TO THE
UNDERLYING PROBLEMS WHICH HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE TRAGIC
CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN LEBANON OVER THE PAST FOURTEEN
YEARS. AUSTRALIA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES HAVE
CONSISTENTLY SUPPORTED THE ARAB LEAGUE NEGOTIATIONS
WHICH LED TO THE AGREEMENT. THE TAIF AGREEMENT
RECOMMENDED A SET OF POLITICAL REFORMS, SUPPORTED BY
REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL COMMUNITIES IN LEBANON AND AIMED
AT CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR THE RESTORATION OF
LEBANON'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, UNITY AND SOVEREIGNTY.
THE GOAL WAS TO REBUILD A FREE AND INDEPENDENT LEBANON
IN WHICH PEOPLE OF ALL BELIEFS COULD LIVE IN PEACE AND
CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATION'S PROSPERITY AND DEVELOPMENT.
IT TOOK IMMENSE COURAGE ON THE PART OF THE MEMBERS OF
THE LEBANESE PARLIAMENT TO COME TOGETHER AND NEGOTIATE
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL LEBANESE IN THE FACE
OF BRUTAL THREATS.
MR MUAWAD WAS A MAN COMMITTED TO PEACE AND HIS
PREPAREDNESS TO STAND FOR THE PRESIDENCY WAS TESTIMONY
TO HIS COURAGE. AS HE SAID IN A SPEECH FOLLOWING HIS
ELECTION: I AM ONE OF YOU AND YOU KNOW ME AS A MAN OF
RECONCILIATION, DEDICATED TO THE CONCEPT OF UNITY;
A MAN WHO HAS GAMBLED HIS LIFE IN RETURN FOR THE
RECONCILIATION OF ALL LEBANESE, IRRESPECTIVE OF
THEIR PERSUASION. RECONCILIATION EXCLUDES NOBODY,
EVEN THOSE WHO INSIST ON EXCLUDING THEMSELVES.
RECONCILIATION IS FOR ALL AND CAN ACCOMMODATE ALL.
LET US HOPE THAT PRESIDENT MUAWAD, LIKE THE LEGIONS OF
OTHER LEBANESE VICTIMS OF THE VIOLENCE, DID NOT DIE IN
VAIN. LET US HOPE THAT THERE ARE OTHER LEBANESE WITH
THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS BEGUN AT TAIF.
MR MUAWAD'S DEATH WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT SET-BACK TO
LEBANON'S SEARCH FOR PEACE AND STABILITY AND MAY IGNITE
FURTHER CONFLICT. IT IS NOW UP TO THOSE REMAINING IN
THE LEBANESE PARLIAMENT TO RESCUE THE TAIF AGREEMENT.
TRAGICALLY THAT TASK HAS BEEN MADE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT
BY PRESIDENT MUAWAD'S DEATH.
ONLY YESTERDAY I PLANTED A CEDAR TREE IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE LEBANESE NATIONAL DAY AND POINTED TO THE TAIF
AGREEMENT AND MR MUAWAD'S ELECTION AS THE MOST PROMISING
SIGNS OF PEACE IN LEBANON FOR A LONG TIME. TODAY, IN
THE FACE OF THE APPALLING EVENTS OF LAST NIGHT I CAN
ONLY REPEAT, IN SADNESS, THE CALL I MADE YESTERDAY IN
HOPE, FOR ALL PARTIES IN LEBANON TO CO-OPERATE IN THE
PROCESS OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION; TO BRING ABOUT A
POLITICAL SETTLEMENT WHICH WILL ENABLE MUSLIMS AND
CHRISTIANS TO LIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE IN PEACE.
MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH THE AUSTRALIAN LEBANESE COMMUNITY
WHO ONLY YESTERDAY WERE CELEBRATING LEBANON'S
INDEPENDENCE DAY AND THE PROMISING SIGNS OF HOPE FOR THE
FUTURE. THOSE HOPES HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY SET BACK, BUT
NOT DESTROYED. IT IS CLEARER THAN EVER TODAY THAT THE
ONLY LASTING SOLUTION TO THE LEBANESE CONFLICT WILL BE A
NEGOTIATED POLITICAL ONE. A CONTINUATION OF THE CYCLE
OF VIOLENCE WILL SOLVE NOTHING.
I CALL ON ALL LEBANESE AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN THAT
COUNTRY'S CRISIS TO EXERCISE RESTRAINT AND TO TRY AGAIN
TO REBUILD THE PROCESS BEGUN AT TAIF.