Nasrallah Says Health Minister 'for All Lebanese', Party's Concern is 'Humanitarian'
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday called for “calm and rapprochement” amid a war of words that followed the formation of the new government, as he reassured over the affiliation of the new health minister.
“I call for calm and rapprochement,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.
“We must be partners in addressing the difficult files,” he urged, warning that the government is “addressing highly sensitive economic and financial issues that will have an impact for tens of years.”
“There is consensus that there is a financial and economic threat and therefore the government must say how it intends to prevent the financial collapse,” Nasrallah added.
“Some want to drag us into political bickering, and there is no problem in that seeing as we all have media platforms, but today the living conditions are the main problem,” Hizbullah's leader underlined.
He cautioned that focusing on “personal interests and the interests of leaders” will prevent the government from “finding solutions for the people.”
“We don't any group to intimidate another group,” Nasrallah urged.
“We are open to every discussion and all things can be addressed through dialogue and what's important is to approach things vigorously and realistically,” Hizbullah's leader went on to say.
Turning to the issue of the new health minister, who was named by Hizbullah but is not a member of the party, Nasrallah sought to reassure the Lebanese and the international community.
“The health minister is not a member of our party and we have taken this decision for the sake of the country's interest,” he said.
“The health minister is for all Lebanese and all regions and so is the health ministry,” he added.
And reminding that Hizbullah is an “Islamic party” and that theft is impermissible under Islam, Nasrallah said: “The money of the Lebanese state belongs to the state and there is a legal responsibility towards this money in addition to the ethical responsibility, because the minister and the ministry are entrusted with this money.”
“We don't want projects, business or anything and we don't want to be accused of anything, seeing us our primal concern is humanitarian,” Hizbullah's leader added.
Dismissing claims that the new government is “Hizbullah's government,” Nasrallah stated: “Saying that the government is Hizbullah's government is a wrong description. Ethically, this is a lie and the right description is that this government is comprised of a group of political forces in Lebanon among them Hizbullah.”
“Our presence in the government is more effective than ever before, through our discussions, voting and work, but this does not mean that it is Hizbullah's government,” he added.
“The government is the government of all those taking part in it,” Nasrallah emphasized.
The U.S. State Department had announced Friday that Washington is “concerned that Hizbullah, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, will continue to occupy ministerial positions and was allowed to name the Minister of Public Health.”
“We call on the new government to ensure the resources and services of these ministries do not provide support to Hizbullah,” the State Department urged.
The new health minister, Jamil Jabaq, is not a member of Hizbullah but is believed to be close to Nasrallah and was his personal physician at one point.
The health portfolio makes it difficult for international donors to avoid Hizbullah, which is under multiple U.S. sanctions.
A donor meeting in Paris last year pledged $11 billion in low-interest loans and aid for Lebanon, hoping to avert disaster amid political and economic instability and the influx of 1.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria.
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