Hezbollah launches preemptive attack against Azour

As soon as it became apparent that former Lebanese finance minister  Jihad Azour could be  the presidential candidate   of the opposition  he became the target for  attacks by Hezbollah and a its allies 

MP Mohammed Raad who heads up Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc  was quick to launch a preemptive attack against Azour and his supporters 

“The candidate whose name is being circulated is a maneuver candidate whose mission is to confront the nomination of the candidate supported by us,” Raad said, calling on the opposition  to “stop wasting time.”

“Those who don’t want a representative of (the Axis of) Defiance are saying ‘we have our republic and you have your republic’ and are seeking to partition the country,” Raad said  and added 

“Their entire work is to conspire against the resistance, and the slogan they have voiced is toppling the resistance’s arms and inciting against it. The meetings that they are holding are within this context, whereas the resistance is dealing with the matter calmly, because it knows that these people want an illusion,” Raad said. And added 

“We are proud of our belonging to a resistant  choice”

He attacked  Azour without naming him  and accused the opposition of conspiring against Hezbollah

“Their entire work is to conspire against the resistance, and the slogan they have voiced is toppling the resistance’s arms and inciting against it.

“They are delusional and do not know the facts, seeing as the resistance is bigger and stronger than them and all those who support them”

But Azour on Sunday refused to be labeled as a confrontational candidate and said he has a project   that will rescue Lebanon  and will be approved by all the Lebanese .

Hezbollah has been accusing the opposition of seeking to divide the country ,  but according to Lebanese media reports , it is the other way round . Hezbollah is  the  one trying to divide the country and has already started  with Lebanon’s capital Beirut  by insisting it should be divided into 2 parts , one part to be headed by a Sunni mayor and the other by a pro Hezbollah Shiite mayor .

During a meeting today at Dar Al Fatwa in Beirut all the attendants rejected the idea of dividing Beirut municipality into 2 parts

Candidates

Several names of possible candidates have been mentioned. Some have been described as confrontational like Hezbollah’s candidate Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, a close friend of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad and opposition’s candidate Michel Mouawad , son of slain president Rene Mouawad who was assassinated on Lebanon’s Independence Day , November 22, 1989 reportedly by the Syrian regime .

Several other candidates have been named including Army Chief General Joseph Aoun, former minister of Interior Ziad Baroud , former Lebanese minister Ziad Hayek  who was nominated in 2019 to head up the World bank and Salah Honein a lawyer and former MP and several others

The Lebanese economy remains severely depressed against continued deadlock over much needed economic reforms and high uncertainty. Despite the urgency for action to address Lebanon’s deep economic and social crisis, progress in implementing the reforms agreed under the 2022 agreement with IMF remains very slow.

Azour is  perceived by the opposition as the only candidate that understands or able to handle the collapse of Lebanon’s economy which is the most important issue for Lebanon at this moment in time”

The Lebanese pound has become almost worthless as retailers in Lebanon are demanding dollars for their goods and services after the pound lost about 99 % of its value

Azour is currently the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund where he oversees the Fund’s work in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus.

Azour served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister in 2005-08, during which time he coordinated the implementation of important reforms, including modernizing the country’s tax and customs systems. Before and since his time as finance minister, he held a wide range of  senior executive positions in the private sector, including McKinsey and Booz and Co 

Azour holds a PhD in International Finance and a post-graduate degree in International Economics and Finance, both from the Institute d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also did research on emerging economies and their integration into the global economy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard. Azour has published several books and articles on economic and financial issues and taught extensively.

None of the opposition seem to have any  personal problems with Franjieh but they all see him as  a  puppet  of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah  like  Michel Aoun who was proclaimed as the worst president Lebanon ever had 

One observer told Ya Libnan

“Franjieh’s only strength is Lebanon’s weakness . 

After signing the maritime border agreement with Israel Lebanon does not need a resistance movement  anymore. If Hezbollah was against the agreement Aoun would never have signed it . If Hezbollah wants to resist Israel it should move its fighters  to Jerusalem , like it did  when it sent its fighters to Syria to help the Assad regime in crushing the Syrian revolution.   

And Lebanon does not seek   the return to Syrian hegemony 

Lebanon wants to regain its lost sovereignty and the time is now  . We are tired of the bullying by Hezbollah. and its arms. It is mighty time for the Lebanese to decide what is best for Lebanon “