MP Denies Hizbullah, FPM Seeking Vacuum, Voices 'Conditional' Support for Protests
A Hizbullah lawmaker on Sunday denied accusations that his party or the Free Patriotic Movement are seeking “total vacuum” in the country, voicing conditional support for the growing anti-corruption protest movement.
“Accusations by some parties that Hizbullah and the FPM are seeking total vacuum and a constituent assembly are baseless,” MP Hussein al-Moussawi of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc said.
“Citizens who support Hizbullah are also frustrated and demanding electricity, water and clean streets,” he noted.
His remarks come a day after tens of thousands of protesters from across Lebanon staged a rare non-sectarian mass rally in downtown Beirut against a political class they accuse of corruption and failing to provide basic services.
It followed demonstrations last weekend that descended into violence when some protesters clashed with police.
The demonstration was organized by the "You Stink" movement, which began in response to a crisis that started with the closure of Lebanon's largest landfill in mid-July, resulting in garbage piling up on the streets of the country.
Since then there have been small protests that have broadened to include demands for a political overhaul of government institutions seen as corrupt and ineffective by many Lebanese.
Noting that Hizbullah is keen on “stability” in the country, Moussawi said the party supports the popular protests “on the condition that they seek reform and combat corruption in a 'clean' way and that they don't be exploited by a certain party or group.”
“We cannot reach a solution if these people don't transcend sects and confessions and the failure of this experience will lead to everyone's frustration,” the MP warned.
Turning to the garbage crisis, Moussawi pointed out that “180 countries around the world have found solutions to the trash problem.”
“But in Lebanon we have yet to find a solution because the issue is not technical, but rather about the distribution of shares,” he lamented.
Y.R.
30 August 2015, 17:26
98
if the FPM and your terrorist party are not seeking vacuum who is then? Go to parliament and elect a president and spare us the dramatics and theatricals.
31 August 2015, 12:38
60
the parliament's term expired before the president, and they extended themselves twice under the pretext of preparing an electoral law. 5 years have passed now, WHERE IS THAT ELECTORAL LAW? This parliament is no longer legitimate and has proven REPEATEDLY that the only thing they are capable of is systematic failure. we want ELECTIONS NOW! Let the people speak its voice peacefully ya haramiyye, before it all goes off un-peacefully, in which case your little villas and castles wont be able to hold very long.
31 August 2015, 13:10
14
you want elections NOW?! Go talk to your employer hezbollah. They extended the parliaments term twice.
31 August 2015, 19:42
13
Movaten, you forgot that your parliamentarians and those of your employees at the FPM were also part of that renewal, so why do you keep insisting in breaking our brains with your double standards, ba3dak ma t3ebet?
01 September 2015, 12:44
30
First, the FPM was against this extension, they are the only party that voted against it, so keep your lessons phoenix.
As for Hezbollah, they did vote along, based on the principle that voting against would have caused a void which they wanted to avoid. I disagree with them on that, and believe that it would be better to have a void rather than having 128 illegitimate, incompetent and impotent MPs sitting on their a**es ad vitam eternam.
Second, I want elections regardless of m8/m14 considerations, so trying to point at this or that party is irrelevant. We all should be demanding elections, and may the people get their true representation in the parliament, be it m8 or m14. It's our most fundamental right, or else let's stop pretending we're in a democracy, admit we're a banana republic and then act on it.
01 September 2015, 13:06
11
mowaten E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T. Still laughing since the day you declared with a straight face you were a shiaa atheist and also a member of hezbollah with only one account. I think i will also continue to laugh at your statement " or else let's stop pretending we're in a democracy, admit we're a banana republic and then act on it. ,". Thank you Thank you
31 August 2015, 13:12
15
you are not even Lebanese mowaten irani and everybody knows that; so don't pretend to be something you are not. Go vote in Iran, your country of origin.
30 August 2015, 18:44
25
What a liar about everything. Mafia & trash talk. How did we end up with thugs like that, giving us lessons about the future, when they are the ones who are ruining it, day in day out.
He should go back to Iran where a better life awaits him...maybe.
30 August 2015, 19:23
26
Assad and Hezbollah have one aim. That the lebanese state remains weak and inefficient. They will stand in the way of whatever makes it stand on its feet, and they will kill whatever makes it strong.
30 August 2015, 21:22
26
Citizens who support Hizbullah are also frustrated and demanding electricity, water and clean streets,..........
The difference between HA supporters and normal citizens is
1) HA supporters want FREE electricity, they do not pay for what they already use.
2) Same goes for water, they tap into main water lines wherever they can. As long as it is free.
3) Impossible to keep their areas clean, it will cost the State more than it can afford.
31 August 2015, 11:39
13
“Citizens who support Hizbullah are also frustrated and demanding electricity, water and clean streets,” he noted.
Mr Bassil your allies are complaining! Can u pls go and get another 2 electricity vessels from Turkey, myb wz 4 vessels the power will improve in Lebanon...
31 August 2015, 13:00
15
“Citizens who support Hizbullah are also frustrated and demanding electricity, water and clean streets,” he noted.
Citizens of hezbollah should ask their leaders who have been running the ministry of power for the last 15 years and became billionaires as a result. The ministry of power is 90% shiaa so go ask them why there is no electricity.
