Mustaqbal Slams Nasrallah's Arsal Remarks, Warns against Constitutional 'Heresies'

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc cautioned Tuesday that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest remarks on the town of Arsal would only fuel “sectarianism,” as it reiterated its keenness on the Taef Accord and warned against any constitutional “heresies.”

“Nasrallah called for implicating the Lebanese state and army in a conflict that would only lead to further drowning in the quicksands of the region,” the bloc warned in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

“What's more dangerous in Sayyed Nasrallah's remarks is his declaration that he will directly confront the region of Arsal and its outskirts if the army does not do so,” the bloc added.

On Saturday, Nasrallah declared that Hizbullah and the Syrian army made major advances in the battle for Syria's Qalamoun region but warned that “there would be no absolute security (in the Bekaa and Lebanon) as long as the armed groups are present in the outskirts of Arsal and the remaining part of Qalamoun's outskirts.”

“If the Lebanese state accepts the occupation of its territories and approves that armed groups attack its army … then the Lebanese people will not accept that. The people will assume their responsibilities if the state fails to act,” he stressed.

But al-Mustaqbal slammed his statements as “dangerous” on Tuesday, warning that they would only “fan the flames of sectarian conflicts and push things to further complications.”

Turning to the issue of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's latest presidential proposals, the bloc stressed its keenness on the Constitution, the Taef Accord and the democratic parliamentary system.

It warned against resorting to “new heresies that would subject the country and its democratic parliamentary system to all kinds of threats.”

On Friday, Aoun Aoun blamed the current political crisis on “the limitation of the presidential powers” after the Taef Accord and “the lack of participation by all the Lebanese factions” in the country's political life.

He called for choosing one of four solutions: a two-phased election of the president by the people, a popular referendum that is binding for parliament, a parliamentary vote for the “two most representative Maronite MPs”, or holding parliamentary polls based on a new and balanced electoral law before organizing the presidential vote.

As for the latest controversial verdict against former minister Michel Samaha, al-Mustaqbal lauded “the brave decision” to file an appeal against the ruling, describing the ex-minister as a “terrorist criminal.”

The appeal “represents an advanced step to rescue the judiciary and justice from the transgressions committed by those who issued the verdict that made light of the intelligence of the Lebanese and their souls,” the bloc added.

It also pointed out that the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon can make use of the disclosed evidence in Samaha's case in its endeavor to unveil the perpetrators of the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and other crimes.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr submitted on Monday an appeal against Samaha's verdict. The appeal demands his retrial and that the ruling be annulled.

The retrial would refer to videos of the former minister during which he discusses the transportation of explosives from Syria to use them in attacks in Lebanon. The videos also show him discussing the assassination of various Lebanese officials.

Samaha was sentenced last week to four-and-a-half years in jail on terrorism charges.

Arrested in August 2012, Samaha would be released at the end of this year taking into account time served and because the judicial year amounts to nine months in Lebanon.

The verdict created uproar among politicians and civil society activists, who slammed the Military Tribunal for its light verdict.

Y.R.