Mr. Saad Rafic Hariri arrived at 7:15 this morning to the Ras Beirut Intermediate School accompanied by his brothers, Ayman and Fahd and Oday Sheikh. Both Ayman and Fahd voted at the electoral center.
Upon leaving, Mr. Saad Hariri told the journalists: “Today, Beirut will be loyal to Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. And by God’s will the people will cast their ballots intensely to those who were loyal to Beirut and they will vote to the list of Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri which will continue his path. Our first project, as Beirut deputies, if we win is to find out the truth and build the country on the basis of national unity which we witnessed on March 14.
Question: How do these elections differ from the past elections?
Mr. Hariri: Rafic Hariri is not with us. This is the big difference.
Question: There is criticism for your statements in which you described every candidate outside the list as if he is involved in the assassination crime of Martyr Premier.
Mr. Hariri: I said that the voting today will be against the criminals. Lots of people are trying to say that people will not vote intensely. We call on people to vote intensely in loyalty to this person who always wanted Beirut and the country to be unified. Those who are against us today do not want a unified country nor a unified Beirut.
Question: What do you tell the Beiruti voters?
Mr. Hariri: I tell the Beiruti voter to cast his ballot because today is the day of settlement, to prove that Beirut is unified and today is the day of loyalty for Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri who gave his blood, soul and life for this country. All those in the list are ready to do the same thing. We will follow his path and we will offer what he offered.
Question: Do you expect a high turnout?
Mr. Hariri: By God’s will. We wish on everyone to vote because this is the democratic practice, these are their votes and they should say whom they want. The people said on March 14 that they want the national unity and the list of Martyr Prime Minister is the list of national unity.