Former Lebanese Prime Minister and Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri who returned to the country this year ending a self-imposed exile reacted to the speech of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accusing him of holding the country at a ransom.
He urged him to “listen to the opinion of the majority of the Lebanese people, including the Shiite silent majority ” before sending militants to fight in Syria and Yemen. He reminded him of the presidential stalemate that is more than two years old and there are no signs of it ending soon.
Hariri said on Twitter: “If the Future Movement had the intention to solely dominate authority, it wouldn’t have approved and signed a mixed proportional draft law with the “Lebanese Forces” and the “Democratic Gathering” in parliament.”
He added: “We heard Sayyed Hassan say that he holds on to the opinion of those who represent 20 percent or more of any group. Why doesn’t he listen to the opinion of the majority of the Lebanese people, including the silent majority of Shiites, before involving our country in wars in Syria and Yemen? Or is democracy, in Sayyed Hassan’s opinion, to buy and sell percentages in Lebanon, and slaughter any percentage of Syrians who do not join the unilateralism of his tyrant ally in Damascus? Finally, what is in the opinion of Sayyed Hassan, the percentage of Lebanese who want a president and has he been abiding by their will while disabling quorum for two years? The worst misfortune is the one that makes you laugh!”
Lebanon officially completed Wednesday two years of presidential vacuum. Former President Michel Salesman’s term ended in May 2014.
The Hezbollah chief said in a televised speech Wednesday marking the 16th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon, known as Resistance and Liberation Day, that his party backs the staging of parliamentary elections according to a new modern electoral law that breaks the presidential deadlock and leads to the elections of a new head of state.
“The other team insists on rejecting the proportional law to maintain its power and prevent its competitors from reaching the Parliament,” Nasrallah said.
“The excuse that parliamentary elections can’t happen due to security reasons is over,” he said. His remarks come after Lebanon held three stages of municipal elections starting May 8. The last round of polls will be take place Sunday in north Lebanon and Akkar governorates.
Most MPs voted to extend their own term in 2013 and again in 2014, over claims that holding legislative elections would have been difficult due to the tense security situation in the country at the time.
Nasrallah called for a new electoral law based on proportional representation, saying it would best represent the people and reform the country’s politics.
“If elections take place based on proportional representation, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement’s parliamentary blocs will shrink … despite this, we are calling for such a system,” Nasrallah claimed, in reference to the country’s other main Shiite party.
“Those who refuse a proportional-based law are those who want to monopolize authority,” Nasrallah proclaimed
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