The dialogue talks between between Future Movement and Hezbollah is scheduled to start on Tuesday, media reports said.
According to the reports the representatives of the two parties will meet at Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence in Ain el-Tineh.
The Future Movement- will be represented by Nader Hariri ( advisor of former PM Saad Hariri) , Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, and MP Samir al-Jisr, while Hezbollah will be represented by Hussein al-Khalil( advisor of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah) , minister Hussein al Hajj hassan and MP Hassan Fadlallah.
Berri and his aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil will initially attend the meeting but will later withdraw from the talks to pave way for the rivals to discuss controversial issues, according to the reports .
“The most important aspect of it (the dialogue) is direct contact between the two sides without the interference of a mediator,” Berri was quoted as saying on Monday
“The dialogue will be serious and we will work on its productivity,” Berri told his visitors.
He stressed that the talks will help ease tension between Sunnis and Shiites in the country.
Berri said the dialogue’s agenda will be open except for certain issues that the two sides have agreed to keep aside, such as the Syrian crisis and the arms of the resistance.
“It’s natural to discuss about the presidential crisis from the aspect of (finding) a consensual president and not dealing with names,” he said.
The Lebanese parliament failed on Dec 10 and and for the 16th time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term ended on May 25.
As in the past sessions the parliament was unable to reach a quorum because the MPs of the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group and Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc boycotted the sessions.
Speaker Berri postponed to Jan. 7 , 2015 Lebanon’s presidential election.
Update1: The dialogue talks started Tuesday late afternoon at Ain el Tineh
Future Movement sources sources told al-Manar:
” We have two choices “divorce” or dialogue — and we cannot choose “divorce.”
According to Al-Manar: The first meeting will be aimed at breaking the ice between Future Movement and Hezbollah and at devising a roadmap for the coming dialogue sessions.
Al-Manar added that A written statement will be distributed to media outlets after the end of the first dialogue session
Update 2 : LBCI reported that it is still not known whether the dialogue will be resumed in Ain al-Tineh or any other place but Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil will attend all the coming sessions.
Al-Jadeed or New TV reported that Both dialogue parties are keen not to announce anything in public about their discussions on the other hand both are are insisting on reassuring Christians and Druze that this is not a Sunni-Shiite dialogue but rather a dialogue between two rival political parties.
Update 3 : Future TV reported that the first dialogue session which lasted 4 hours, ended around 10 PM
Al-Manar TV reported that the atmosphere was positive in the first dialogue session and both parties agreed to hold another dialogue session in early January.
A statement was issued after Ain al-Tineh dialogue session which stated that Hezbollah and Future Movement stressed their keenness and willingness to start serious and responsible dialogue over the various issues and agreed to continue dialogue in a positive manner which contributes to alleviating tensions and managing the disputes.
The statement added: The meetings are not aimed at forming a new political alignment in the domestic arena and they are not meant to be against anyone.
Update 4; Speaker Berri satisfied
Berri voiced on Wednesday his satisfaction with the dialogue talks between the Future Movement and Hezbollah that waere held on Tuesday at his residence in Ain Tineh.
He hoped that the talks would be expanded to include other forces, without elaborating
He also looked forward to a second round of the talks between the movement and party.
The speaker made his remarks during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his residence.
“The Future Movement – Hezbollah dialogue is encouraging and we hope that it will reflect on the country,” Berri added.
“Only dialogue can bolster consensus and unity,” he told the MPs.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.