Lebanese Minister Sehnaoui reveals the “Lebanese Emigrant’s stamp”: our aim is to protect ourselves and to stop the world from controlling our destiny.
The minister of Telecommunications Nicolas Sehnaoui revealed today (21 Nov 2012) the “Lebanese Emigrant’s stamp” from his office, in the presence of the “ Liban Post” general manager Dr Muhammad Zouheir Youssef. The president of the Association of Lebanese-French Businessmen (HALFA) Mr Antoine Menassa also participated in the launching event from Beirut, as well as Mr Chakib Rammal the president of the National Council of WLCU in Ghana, (former president of the Board of trustees). Also participating in this event from all around the world via video conference were the following:
The Secretary-General of the Rassemblement pour la Republique , Mr Elie Aouad from France,Dr Nicholas Kahwaji (WLCU main representative at DPI-UN), Engineer Camille Louis Secretary General of the Lebanese Canadian Society of BC (LCS-BC), Henri Zarifeh, president of the WLCU-British Columbia Council, Nicolas Zammar, board member of the LCS-BC (Vancouver, Canada), Antoine Ghanem, president of the WLCU- Queensland state Council (Brisbane, Australia), Roger Hani, WLCU- Continental president of Europe, Farid Makarem (former World vice president of WLCU) from California, United States, Michel Assaf, president of the WLCU national Council of Venezuella,from Caracas; Hernan Eshen, president of the WLCU World Council of Youth Descendants of Lebanese origin from Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Mr Jaime Tohme, president of the “Centro Libanés” in Mexico City, Mexico.
Mr Rammal confirmed that “in our different affiliations, beliefs and potentials, we will keep on doing our best to keep the glory of Lebanon and its reputation, and support all the projects that aim to advance its social and economical structure”. He added that “it is time for the Lebanese to live their affiliation to their country and for us to use our potentials and capabilities for the benefit of the homeland”.
Mr Menassa thanked the Lebanese president General Michel Sleiman and Minister Sehnaoui for achieving the ideas that the expatriates and the successive Lebanese presidents have been wanting to for quite some time. He hoped “to have in place an electoral law that takes into account the correct representation of the expatriates”, stressing that Sehnaoui “carried out the expatriates’ wish by releasing this stamp which is the cornerstone for the interrelationship between the homeland and the Lebanese Diaspora”.
Those two words were directly followed by interventions from the participating expatriates. (details about them soon).
After the participating expatriates’ interventions, Sehnaoui praised “the Lebanese Diaspora and the huge role it performs on all levels”. He said “there is a nation that was able to rule the world despite its small population, whereas us the Lebanese we live and are spread all around the world, almost 14 million in number, and we can control the world in our achievements and our great potential to create and innovate”.
He added: “our goal and aim is not to rule the world but protect ourselves and stop the world from controlling our destiny. From this standpoint, the importance of the special role that the Lebanese Diaspora has stands out, as well as the importance of the strong cooperation between those living in the homeland and abroad, to enhance unity and cohesion. I was able to clearly sense during my visit to South America with the President of the Republic General Michel Sleiman the extent of the need to seek to achieve that goal, and the amount of work required to achieve it. What struck me was that the Lebanese in this continent mostly speak Spanish and are not fluent in Arabic, and this is a barrier we have to work to get over, as well as the time zone difference”.
He saw that “it is necessary to put in double the effort to promote the Arabic language among the expatriates in South America, but more importantly, the official written and audio-visual media should have a role in this promotion, perhaps by allocating a daily bulletin in Spanish directed to the expatriates there to keep their connection to Lebanon.
He then spoke “of the tremendous passion that the expatriates have”, stressing on “the importance of enhancing the communication”. He said “what we have achieved at the ministry of communications to develop the infrastructure and bring in the newest technologies should help in improving this communication and facilitate it.
He pointed out that “the discussion regarding the electoral law is always going on, and it is imperative that the expatriates’ voting process be facilitated”.
It is worth noting that the “Lebanese Emigrant’s stamp” project is Antoine Menassa and Dr Nicholas Kahwaji’s idea, and its design is by Elie Aouad. Dr Kahwaji had presented on behalf of the WLCU-BC Council,on the 13th of July 2012 an official request to Attorney Carlos Matuk Kanaan, Past president of the Centro libanes, and chairman of the Elemigrante libanes committee in Mexico, to obtain an official permission to use the original picture of the Elemigrante statue, and had received preliminary approval. The official application was presented to his Excellency Minister Sehnaoui at the ministry of communications on the 4th of August 2012.
On 11 octobre 2012 H.E. Ministre sehnaoui signed a decree to produce 20.000 stamps, each stamp of 500LL value.