Change and Reform Says Israeli Raid Aims to 'Obstruct Regional, Local Talks'

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc noted Tuesday that Israel's airstrike that killed six Hizbullah fighters and a top Iranian general on Sunday in Syria was aimed at “obstructing the regional and local negotiations.”

“We condemn the Israeli attack on Quneitra and extend condolences to the families of the martyrs and to the resistance,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting in Rabieh.

Responding to a reporter's question on the raid, the bloc's secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan said the Israeli strike “reflects an intention to obstruct the regional and domestic negotiations.”

“That's why we must immunize our internal situation in Lebanon and exert bigger efforts in the dialogue so that we can reach results that can carry stability for the state and its institutions,” he added.

He was referring to the separate talks in Lebanon between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement and between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces. The lawmaker was also alluding to the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers and possibly to the expected dialogue among Syrian rivals.

Prominent Hizbullah operatives Mohammed Ahmed Issa and Jihad Imad Mughniyeh as well as top Iranian general Mohammad Ali Allahdadi were among the victims of the Israeli air raid on Syria's Quneitra region near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“We laud the efforts that are being exerted on several fronts and we hope they will lead to an understanding on the republic, so that we can guarantee a permanent solution and restore the missing national partnership, especially Christian-Muslim partnership,” Change and Reform said.

It also revealed that there is “progress in the negotiations with the other party,” in reference to the LF.

Separately, the Change and Reform bloc stressed that the 2015 state budget “must be accomplished within its constitutional timeframe and expenditure must be legalized.”

It also said it followed up on “the steps taken by the government and the security forces regarding the security plan that reflect the right choices of the coalition government.”

“There should not be any leniency in security,” the bloc underlined.

Change and Reform also tackled recent controversy in the country regarding the issue of civil marriage.

“We discussed the issue of refraining from registering civil marriage contracts in state administrations, which violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the constitution,” the bloc said.

It urged the relevant authorities to “abide by the stipulations of the charters and to grant the Lebanese the right to choose this type of contracts if they choose so.”

Y.R.

M.T.