Nasrallah Renews Adherence to Aoun, Says Ready to 'Go to Parliament Tomorrow' if His Election Guaranteed
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah reiterated Friday his party's “ethical and political commitment” to Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun's presidential nomination, expressing willingness to elect him “tomorrow.”
“We have an ethical and political commitment to support General Aoun's nomination and ever since we allied with him, he has not erred against us,” said Nasrallah in a televised speech dedicated to the presidential issue.
“Even if another dear friend is nominated, it will not push me to renounce my ethical commitment to General Aoun, and this does not mean that (Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman) Franjieh does not deserve to become president,” Nasrallah added.
“We honor our commitments even if we lose politically,” Nasrallah stressed, noting that Hizbullah would only consider backing another candidate should Aoun voluntarily decide to withdraw from the race.
Addressing Marada's supporters, Nasrallah said Hizbullah would have taken the same stance had it committed to Franjieh's nomination a year and a half ago.
He urged further “dialogue, communication and discussions,” calling for “a real understanding aimed at electing a president who enjoys consensus without giving the impression that a camp has won over another.”
“We are not with rushing things and the issues are moving forward on the basis of internal dialogue,” Nasrallah added.
Denying claims that Hizbullah is seeking to maintain the presidential vacuum, Hizbullah's chief noted that his party would head to parliament “tomorrow” if it guarantees that Aoun would be elected president -- even without any so-called “package settlement.”
“We would go to parliament and take part in the elections and we would not demand a package settlement, a constituent assembly or constitutional amendments. Our demands from the package settlement have been fulfilled seeing as both candidates are from March 8,” he noted.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of successor. The blocs of Aoun and Hizbullah and some of their allies have been boycotting the electoral sessions.
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Franjieh as president.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Hariri's ally in the March 14 camp, was a presidential candidate at the time and some observers have said that the LF leader has recently nominated Aoun for the presidency as a “reaction” to Hariri's proposal, a claim Geagea has denied.
Nasrallah noted Friday that Hizbullah was “pleased” by Geagea's endorsement of Aoun's presidential bid.
“We trust our ally General Aoun and he is free to sit with whomever he wants. We will not be bothered if our rival supports one of our allies, because the other camp is the one confused while we have confidence in our domestic and regional situations,” Nasrallah added.
“We support any agreement between any two Lebanese groups,” he said.
“Our alliances are not only based on political interests but also on trust and friendship,” Nasrallah stated.
Reminiscing the period during which Hariri met with Franjieh in Paris, Nasrallah revealed that he had told the Marada chief that no decision could be taken without consultations with Aoun in the long run.
“When he told us about the Paris meeting, we asked him to be cautious because certain parties might seek to sow discord between him and Aoun or between Hizbullah and Aoun. When Franjieh asked about our camp's response if the proposal was serious, we told him that that would be a new development that we would have to discuss with General Aoun,” Nasrallah explained.
“We told him that we trust him and that we believe that he has the needed characteristics while noting that we are politically and morally committed to Aoun's nomination and that the issue needs to be discussed with him,” he went on to say.
Nasrallah also criticized “the manner in which the issue was addressed and the leaks to the media” that “prevented any real or serious dialogue.”
“The leaks created ambiguity and the way the issue was addressed from Paris created negative repercussions in the both March 8 and the March 14 camps. Many leaks occurred but I only believe what Franjieh told me,” he added.
Y.R.
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