Abbas Ibrahim: The performance of politicians is devastating to Lebanon

A week after leaving his position as Director of Public Security in Lebanon, Major General Abbas Ibrahim spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat about his “dramatic” departure. While he refused to point out who was responsible for the failure of the attempts to extend his term, he alluded to the prime minister, saying that President Najib Mikati sounded the real “whistleblower” to stop the extension, when he said that he “will rely on the law on this issue and spoke in a way that caused confusion among citizens and the political authority, knowing that a group of Among the legalists, legal ways out were found for the extension, but they were not taken.
Ibrahim confirmed that he told “those concerned” five months ago that he did not wish to remain in office, and acquiesced in the idea of ​​a “temporary extension” pending the election of a president and the formation of a full-fledged government that could appoint an authentic general director for public security.

In his assessment of the work of politicians in Lebanon, he said that action and reaction prevail over political opinion. He added, “This mentality will have bad results if it continues… We must get out of it… This political performance is a devastating performance for Lebanon.”
Ibrahim talked about his role as the “republican mediator” when he moved between officials trying to bridge points of view. He says that he succeeded in some files and failed in others due to political differences. When asked about the multiplicity of security services in Lebanon, he said that the reason is that there is a “crowd of sects” in Lebanon. He added, “The time has come for us to become citizens of this country, and become more religious and less sectarian.”