Salam won't resign, calls for ministerial meeting at Grand Serail
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam does not intend to resign or stop performing his duties and he is “reviewing the government’s work with the aim of rectifying and enhancing the performance,” Deputy PM Tarek Mitri said Friday after meeting with Salam.
This comes after Hezbollah defied Salam and Lebanese authorities by illuminating the iconic Raouche Rock with images of its slain chiefs Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine despite controversy and authorities’ refusal to grant permission for such a move.
“I have not suspended my duties and I have not resigned. I have rather canceled my appointments for today to focus on what happened yesterday and discuss the next steps,” Salam’s visitors quoted him as saying on Friday, according to MTV.
“Salem will not back down from his decision and he wants to know why the government’s decision was overlooked as to what happened with the illumination of the Raouche Rock,” MTV added.
Ministers and MPs had visited Salam in the morning in solidarity with his stances.
“Salam is insisting that measures should be taken and he is expected to issue a statement today,” sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar meanwhile told MTV that the public prosecution will take action at his instructions, noting that “the judiciary does not deal with politics but rather with the law” and stressing that “the law will be enforced on everyone without exception.”
Salam had on Thursday asked Nassar and the defense and interior ministers to take "appropriate measures, including arresting the perpetrators and referring them for investigation," noting that the incident "negatively impacts (Hezbollah's) credibility in dealing with the logic of the state and its institutions."
MTV reported Friday that “there is an inclination to terminate the license of the Hezbollah-affiliated association (that organized the Raouche event) for not abiding by the required conditions.”
Salam will meanwhile meet with the ministers of defense, interior and justice at the Grand Serail ahead of holding a meeting with all ministers at 4:00 pm.
Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar of Hezbollah told Al-Jadeed that the party’s ministers will attend the ministerial meeting and that they are “open to discussion and consultations over all issues, because dialogue is the basis of everything.”
Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered at a scenic overlook on Beirut's coast Thursday and projected images Nasrallah and Safieddine on the iconic arched Raouche rock to commemorate their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago. The move came despite an attempt by Salam to halt the planned light show.
Salam issued a circular earlier this week pointing to "the recent recurrence of the exploitation of national monuments for propaganda purposes and to hold activities in which partisan and political slogans are raised."
He directed public bodies to "strictly prohibit the use of public land and sea areas, archaeological and tourist landmarks, or those that bear a unifying national symbolism before obtaining the necessary licenses and permits from the relevant authorities."
Nasrallah, the longtime leader of the militant group and political party, was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes on a site in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2024, that destroyed an entire block under which Nasrallah was meeting with an Iranian general and some of his top military commanders.
Days later, Nasrallah's successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another series of airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.
A Hezbollah representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group's procedures, confirmed that the organizers had only requested permission for the gathering.
He said it was unclear which agency had authority to give permission for the light show on the rock and that they considered it was covered by "freedom of expression" under Lebanon's constitution.
The event was a show of force by the militant group and political party, which suffered serious blows in last year's war with Israel and has been under domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal since then.
The Lebanese government has said it will work on disarming Hezbollah and consolidating weapons in the hands of the state. Hezbollah officials have said they will not discuss handing over the groups weapons until Israel stops its airstrikes and withdraws its forces from several key border points they are occupying in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials have been reluctant to push the country's cash-strapped army to forcibly disarm the group, fearing that such a move would lead to civil conflict.
Source: Naharnet
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