Lebanese PM Hassan Diab on Saturday said the state does not physically exist in the minds of people, calling for regaining the citizens’ confidence.

In an address during a visit to the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Diab said: “The state does not physically exist in the minds of people, and has lost their confidence because it broke away from them.”

“The State has lost its identity when the idea of a merger between politics, power and ruling powers took root,” he said, as quoted by National News Agency (NNA).

“Today, there is a need for the State’s disengagement from the interests of the ruling class and for establishing a direct link between the State and the citizen,” Diab underlined.

Through this disengagement “the State can regain its prestige and image, and this is how we begin to purify the idea of the State from the concept of authority, the Lebanese PM added.

Diab was accompanied during his visit by his advisors Khodr Taleb and Hussein Kaafarani. He was received by the Minister of Interior Mohammad Fahmi and Major-General Imad Othman, Director General of the Internal Security Forces.

The PM, meanwhile, praised the ISF and its role in preserving security in the country.

“The ISF has behaved responsibly with the revolution and with protecting demonstrators, freedom of expression, and public property,” Diab said, referring to nationwide demonstrations which took place across the country since October 17, 2019.

Source: Al-Manar English Website and NNA