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Reports: Hizbullah Supports Aoun, but Refuses Authority Without Berri

Hizbullah has decided to support its ally MP Michel Aoun in spite of Speaker Nabih Berri's opposition, but the party has also decided not to be in power without the Speaker and stressed commitment to this partnership, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

Hizbullah believes that this partnership is taking into consideration not only the unity of the community but is also based on the firm conviction that it falls in the interest of the country, added the daily.

Sources close to Hizbullah said that the party sees a duty and necessity to work on comprehensive understandings that do not distance anyone.

Therefore it will assess Berri's opposition and escalation more as raising the roof, and less as cutting the road short on the election of Aoun, especially when it becomes clear that entrenching stability in Lebanon and restoring normal and dynamic life to its institutions is the title of the next phase.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri had formally announced his endorsement of Aoun for the presidency on Thursday after his previous support for the presidential nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Berri has openly announced that he will not vote for Aoun in any presidential election session and some officials of his AMAL Movement have accused Aoun and Hariri of seeking a bilateral agreement that would marginalize Shiites in power, allegations that Aoun and his movement have denied.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid have argued that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.


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