Bassil Says Hizbullah Harmed FPM by 'Stabbing Democracy'
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil expressed regret on Tuesday that Hizbullah's “anti-democratic” move in supporting the extension of parliament's mandate had harmed the Free Patriotic Movement.
In an interview published in pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Bassil, who is an FPM official, said Hizbullah “stabbed democracy” and “harmed us with its knife along with harming democracy.”
The Hizbullah leadership along with several officials is preventing a quorum in the Constitutional Council, which is failing to meet to study petitions filed by President Michel Suleiman and the Change and Reform bloc of FPM chief Michel Aoun against the 17-month extension of parliament's term.
Three judges – two Shiites and a Druze – are boycotting the meetings of the 10-member body, a clear sign of political interference to prevent the elections from taking place this year.
The lack of quorum caused by their absence would make the extension law valid on Thursday, the date the parliament's four-year mandate expires.
Hizbullah is pushing further with its “stabbing by paralyzing a constitutional institution,” Bassil said.
He told the newspaper that the differences between Hizbullah and the FPM on the extension crisis were “not small.”
“It turned out that our ally is part of the political framework” in the country and “has fallen under the influence of bigger strategic choices,” the caretaker minister said.
Despite his criticism of Hizbullah, Bassil said that the alliance between the FPM and the Shiite party remained strong.
“We should preserve our good relations with Hizbullah as part of our responsibility in consolidating stability,” he said.
Bassil stressed that the FPM's understanding with Hizbullah is based on the defense of Lebanon within certain limits.
“The limits lie in not allowing Lebanon to get involved further” in the war in Syria “and to be truly protecting Lebanon,” he said about Hizbullah's role in Syria's crisis and the prominent role it played in the capture of the town of al-Qusayr by regime troops.
Bassil said he “understood the excuse” of Hizbullah without necessarily backing it.
“I personally prefer that the Lebanese fight it out outside Lebanon instead of in it,” he added.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/87274 |