Franjieh Warns of 'Civil War' during Upcoming Period of 'Hunger'

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh on Wednesday warned officials of the potential for violence when “hunger” increases in the coming period.

“Our main concern is not to reach a civil war, seeing as we will enter a dangerous phase characterized by hunger, and we have to overcome it without giving up our principles,” said Franjieh during an interview with al-Mayadeen TV.

“Officials must show great awareness and national responsibility to avoid the threat of internal strife,” he added.

Noting that foreign pressures “target and starve peoples” without managing to “topple regimes,” Franjieh said Lebanon’s current crisis is the result of “long years of a rentier system and accumulations of the economic policies that have been in place since decades, especially amid the siege that is imposed on the countries of the Axis of Defiance.”

Separately, Franjieh said he wants Lebanon’s next presidents to be “an ally of the Axis of Resistance,” noting that “circumstances will dictate the president’s name.”

“My deep-rooted convictions as part of the Axis of Resistance do not contradict with being open and consensual. We are advocates of dialogue and we oppose the elimination of any group or sect,” he added.

“I will not abandon my allies, even if I pay the price of that,” he said.

Franjieh added: “My name is Suleiman Franjieh, and the same as I will not change my name, I will also not change my political stances. My stance is firm alongside the Axis of Resistance, but I reject that my current actions be dictated on me.”