Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed during the opening of the Beirut International Arab Book Fair that “there is no stable stability without a state that alone owns the decision on war and peace.” He stressed that "there can be no new national renaissance without respecting the law, strengthening institutions, and consolidating citizenship." He said: "We are working to restore the state's decision and authority over its entire territory and launch the necessary reforms for economic advancement and reconstruction. We realize that these paths are interconnected, and that success in one of them does not replace progress in the other paths." He added: "It is not enough to establish new laws if we continue to deal with the law as subject to exception or with institutions as tools to serve special interests." He continued: "We cannot demand a just state and accept favoritism when it serves us, or demand strong institutions and then bypass them when their decisions do not suit us, or call for national unity while we continue to fuel divisions."